Break the Mould
by EM-D8
Summary: Mirus has never been allowed a pokemon, even at fifteen. Then he meets Heron, and after sorting his problem, he becomes aware of hers. If they can bypass that, can they finally chase their forgotten dream?
1. Those who wait

The alarm went off thirty seconds early. Mirus knew that it was thirty seconds because he had woken up a minute earlier by accident and waited for it to go off. He grumbled and opened up the back, showing the wires and microchip inside.  
  
As he was putting the back on again, Michelle came into his room with an armful of her Pokemon plush toys, throwing them onto his bed. She climbed on after them and gave him a sticky hug. It was sticky due to the orange juice spilt down her front, but he hugged her anyway. He wiped off the juice on a Ponyta plush's tail. Luckily Michelle didn't notice, because she was fingering one of Mirus's posters.  
  
He sighed and fed the plushies back into the four-year old's arms and led her out of the door, before wiping orange smudges off the Charizard's head. He then put the digital alarm clock back and got dressed and cleaned his teeth.  
  
Mirus was fifteen, and was usually shy around other people, unless he was extremely nervous, where he was shy around everyone. He had longish green hair and was tall for his age. His hair was green because he had tried to dye it blond. Unfortunately it hadn't worked. Still, it matched his eyes, or so his parents said. His eyes were deep blue, so deep they looked almost purple. They were hardly noticeable, Mirus thought. He was one of those people who were so strange they were normal, or so normal they were unique.  
  
His parents were still asleep, so Mirus slid down the banisters, which creaked, and went to get himself breakfast in the kitchen. The clock on the wall told him that it was nine forty-four. As he went to get milk from the fridge, he saw a note saying,  
  
"If you're going out to try and get a pokemon again, take your phone out with you, and come back by six. Make sure you eat something. And if you leave the village then you'll be..."  
  
The rest of the writing was squeezed on in writing too small to read, so Mirus flipped it over and scrawled "I know" on the other side. His parents had finally let him search Vermil for pokemon, as long as he didn't leave the village at all. So far, he'd found no pokemon to catch, apart from several in the outside route. So still none. He only wanted a pokemon to keep him company and battle at school. Everyone else had pokemon there, except him, so he could never join in.  
  
Mirus bolted down the cereal, and grabbed his backpack. It was the holidays, he remembered, so plenty of time to catch a pokemon. His friends wouldn't be coming to school in September, because they would be on pokemon journeys. More left every single year. He sighed and thought again about a pokemon. His parents would never let him leave, pokemon or not. Still, he'd learnt more about pokemon studies than most people.  
  
He took his bike and cycled out into the roads. Vermil was a small village, about a mile away from Vermillion City, where its name came from. It was surrounded by areas crammed full of pokemon, but Mirus never saw any in the village itself.  
  
He stopped his bike at the village park, and tied it up. There was a worn sign stated, "Pokemon trainers welcome," and went on to explain that any pokemon here could be caught unless they belonged to trainers already. Mirus left the entrance and walked in.  
  
Trees cast green shadows everywhere, and one of two times they looked like pokemon. After the first half-hour, Mirus became less jumpy and started looking properly.  
  
It was no good, he realised, there were no pokemon here. He'd been looking in this place for almost a year, and still nothing. He kicked a bush angrily, and froze.  
  
Something was there. Something, half-hidden behind a tree, was standing there, looking around nervously. Mirus, heart in mouth, crept up behind it, before picking up a stone and hurling it at the figure.  
  
There was a shout of annoyance, and it stood up taller. A girl's voice said. "Who threw that?" She darted round the tree and glared at him.  
  
Mirus looked at her, worried. "I'm sorry," he said. "I thought you were a pokemon." He suddenly realised how stupid that sounded, and stopped.  
  
To his surprise and relief, the girl laughed. "Easy mistake to make, I suppose." Her expression turned serious. "How about a pokemon battle?" She looked around his age, but a little younger, maybe forteen. She had brown-pink hair that was cropped short and ragged about her ears, and ice blue eyes.  
  
He hung his head. "I can't," he replied. "I've got no pokemon."  
  
"No pokemon? I suppose that explains why you threw a rock at me." She rubbed her head.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"No, that's okay. I'm used to it." She widened her pale eyes, as if she'd made a mistake, before they narrowed, daring him to comment. "So why haven't you got a pokemon?"  
  
"My parents won't let me."  
  
She laughed again. "They won't let you? And you listen to them? Geez, I don't listen to my dad."  
  
Mirus said nothing, and waited for the girl to finish.  
  
"Anyway, you haven't got a pokemon. I admit, you don't look like the kind of guy who'd disobey his parents."  
  
"Where'd you get your pokemon?" Mirus asked eagerly.  
  
She laughed. "I caught my ekans in the outside route."  
  
Mirus sighed. He should have thought of that. "What's your name?"  
  
"Heron."  
  
"Heron?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah. What about it?"  
  
He shook his head. "No, nothing."  
  
"What's yours?"  
  
"Mirus."  
  
"Mirus the virus."  
  
"Hilarious."  
  
"Thanks. I pride myself on my humor." Heron grinned, so Mirus wasn't sure whether it was sarcastic or not. "Anyway, what about you and your pokemon?" She tutted. "We can't have that, can we?"  
  
Mirus gave her one of his looks, that told her not to press the subject. She ignored him.  
  
"How about I find you a pokemon?"  
  
"You would?" His eyes lit up and he grinned. Inside though, was a feeling that he should catch his first pokemon by himself.  
  
"Yeah, sure. I know where there are hundreds." She stopped. "But that would just be me, right?"  
  
He rubbed his neck and nodded.  
  
"Thought so." Heron looked over the other side of the park. "There's a man over there who used to be a trainer, but now runs a breeding centre. Let's see if we can find you an egg."  
  
"An egg?" The excitement was back.  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Wow, thanks. How come I never knew about him?"  
  
"Well, it's not exactly a public buisness."  
  
"I haven't got any money."  
  
Heron waved a hand. "Don't fret about that. Rick doesn't mind about money, only helping young trainers with no pokemon. I got my Onix from him."  
  
"Onix?" Mirus pictured himself with a pokemon. He grinned, confident that he'd finally be getting a pokemon of his own. Thoughts of what his parents would say pushed themselves to the back of his mind. "Perfect."  
  
"Come on, then!" Heron yelled happily, grabbing his wrist and starting to run. Mirus yelled, more out of surprise than anything, but was soon running after her.  
  
They made it through and out of the park quickly, through the trees, through a flock of startled Mareep and a corn field, and into a small copse again. Heron let go of his hand and ran on to the other side. Mirus followed, still smiling.  
  
The house that he saw was large, fringed on one side by trees, one by fields, one by a lake and the final by what looked like a hilly path into the mountains. The side with the field had a fence surrounding a large area, where Mirus saw several pokemon playing, eating, or sleeping. He followed his friend through a fence, and up to a door, which she knocked on.  
  
"Who is it?" asked a voice.  
  
"It's me, Heron," Heron called. "I've got a friend with me who can't get a pokemon."  
  
The door opened, and a man of about fifty or so looked out and smiled. "Heron! I remember you!" He gave her a quick hug. "And who's this?"  
  
"My name's Mirus," he replied, starting to feel nervous.  
  
"Hello, Mirus. Come for a pokemon?"  
  
Before he could answer, Heron laughed. "Of course he has. Thank you, Mr Rick."  
  
"Mr Rick. Cheek! It's Mr R Samuel to you, with the R as a mystery." He ruffed her short hair. "Well, you might as well have a look around."  
  
Mirus nodded furiously and stepped inside. He smiled at the sight before him; the walls where filled with shelves, and the shelves filled with eggs. Hundreds and hundreds of Pokemon eggs, each on their own cushion, all in different orders, labeled to say what they were.   
  
He leaned closer to read a tag for the nearest shelf: "Pichu eggs- Due to hatch by..." and a date for a week's time.  
  
Mirus and Heron found themselves in a room crammed full of eggs, and sat down in chairs next to a wobbly-looking shelf.  
  
"Right, Mirus," Mr Samuel said, "What brings you here?"  
  
Mirus explained as quickly as he could, about always wanting a pokemon, but never being allowed one, just wanting a friend and companion. Mr Smual nodded all the way through, and at the end spoke.  
  
"That seems fair to me," he said, making Mitus half jump. "Many trainers-to-be have been in your position, and have come to me- take Heron for example."  
  
Heron grinned. "I remember you every time I beat another trainer," she said.  
  
Mr Samuel shook his head. "Honestly! Now, Mirus, what sort of pokemon where you looking for? Someone easy to train? Loyal? A bit of a rebel? Tough? Shy?"  
  
"I was thinking... tough, and a good friend, but knows when to turn back."  
  
Mr Samuel nodded. "Of course. I think I might have just the thing. Wait here." He left the room, only to return a few moments later with a large egg clutched in his arms.  
  
"Take this. it should hatch soon- take good care of it."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Mr Samuel tapped his nose. "Good things come to those who wait."  
  
"I don't mind waiting," Mirus smiled. "I've been waiting for years."  
  
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E/N: Yay! For those people who like reading looong chapters, this is a story for you. Hope you liked. Please review! 


	2. Dream come true

The egg was safely in Mirus's top draw when night fell. He'd polished it several times until its grey-silver surface shone. It was grey all over, except for a black star-shaped patch stretching across its middle. Mirus knew a lot about pokemon, but forced himself not to look up what kind of pokemon was inside. It was going to be a surprise.  
  
He had just closed the draw when his bedroom door slowly opened and his parents walked in.  
  
"Mirus," his mum said, seemingly blind to the fact that her son wasn't listening, but trying to hide something. Her eyes were clouded and she was well into what appeared to be a well-rehersed speech. His father wasn't listening either, but staring out of the window until he could speak.  
  
"We've thought long and hard about this. You've been searching for a pokemon for the last year and still havn't found one. We're starting to think we've been too hard on you, since you haven't been into the routes. Now your father and I have decided to take you to a village where you can recieve your first pokemon." She took a deep breath.  
  
Mirus looked up suddenly. "Pokemon?" he asked. "Um... how about you let me into the route to catch my own?"  
  
His mother's face drained of colour. "No! Definatly not! Without protection..."  
  
"Mum! I'm fifteen." He thought. His parents were too... parenty. "And I've got a friend with pokemon who could come with me."  
  
"You have?" his father asked. "Who is he? Anyone we know from shool?"  
  
"She's called Heron," Mirus replied, sitting on the bed.  
  
"Have we met her?"  
  
"I don't think so, no." Mirus was getting tired of all these questions. As long as he was allowed a pokemon, he could just say he caught whatever hatched from the egg in the route.  
  
"How about you invite her round?" his mum was saying. "We don't meet many of your friends."  
  
Mirus groaned inwardly. "Yes. Fine. I'll tell her tomorrow. Thanks."  
  
His mum smiled. "Well, that's settled."  
  
When they had gone, Mirus breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally."  
  
---  
  
The next day, Mirus woke up at the usual time, and after fitting the egg in his pack he set off to the park again. Heron was sitting by the entrance, with a purple snake coiled loosely around her.  
  
"Hi," she said. "Egg hatched yet?"  
  
"No." Mirus sat down next to her. "but my parents think I'm going to catch a pokemon in the route, which is good."  
  
She grinned and stood up. "Hope the egg does hatch. I'm dying to know what's in it! Come on, let's go."  
  
Her ekans hissed at being disturbed, and slithered into the park ahead of them.  
  
"Oh, by the way, my parents want you to come over for some reason."  
  
She laughed. "Sure, why not? When?"  
  
He shrugged. "Anytime."  
  
"Good with me. Let's have a look at your egg."  
  
They walked on in silence for a while, then Heron sat herself down by the tree she was next to the day before, and held her hands out expectedly. "Alright then. The egg."  
  
Mirus automatically reached inside the pack and withdrew the egg, wiping off an imaginary speck of dust. It felt warm in his hands and he put his ear to it, hoping to hear a sound or so.  
  
What happened next nearly gave him a heart attack, he said later.  
  
The egg glowed a soft white, before transforming into a four-legged shape. He sheilded his eyes as the glow on his lap brightened, until he got an unexpected lick on the face.  
  
Heron laughed, and Mirus opened his eyes to see a grey-and-black small dog, front paws on his shoulders, yapping happily. "Che-an!" it said, and climbed down, before running up to Heron and giving her a lick, too.  
  
Mirus laughed too, mainly out of surprise. "A poochyena," he said. "I should have guessed."  
  
Heron gave it a hug. "It's so cute!" she said, before looking up. "And I think it's a boy."  
  
"How'd you know?"  
  
"See that?" Heron pointed to Poochyena's tail. "He holds it upright. Females don't do that. It comes from his insincts of living in a pack."  
  
"Alright then," Mirus said slowly, before being attacked again by the energatic dog.  
  
"Do you want to give him a name?" Heron's ekans had curled up to go to sleep, having no respect for this grey ball of fluff, but Heron herself was gazing at it and grinning.  
  
"Um... OK then. How about Grim?"  
  
"Grim?"  
  
Mirus looked at his pokemon. _My pokemon_, he reminded himself. The poochyena was anything but grim- his face was carved into a carefree, happy style. "OK, I mean that he's a dark-type dog. You know, dark-type, grim..."  
  
Heron smiled. "I see. So, you want to do some training?"  
  
"Sounds good." Mirus reached into his back for a pokeball and turned to Grim. "How does the name Grim sound to you? "  
  
The dog's tougue fell out. "Chien! Chee-en!"  
  
Whatever Grim was saying, it was clear from his attidude that he liked the name, so Mirus tapped his on the head, lightly, with the pokeball. Grim offered no resistance, and dissappeared inside. Mirus stood up.  
  
"He talks a lot, but I've got no idea how to understand him," he sighed.  
  
"Yes, you do." Heron was grinning. "I saw you."  
  
"When?" Mirus was confused. To him, Grim's yappings were nothing more than that- yappings.  
  
"Just then. When you asked him about his name."  
  
"I didn't understand any of that."  
  
She laughed again. "You did. You knew he liked the name from the way he acted." Hearing no responce, she pressed on. "Understanding pokemon includes their expressions and body language. In dogs, especially. What pokemon actually say with sounds makes up only a small part of their vocabulary."  
  
"How do you know all this?" Mirus asked her.  
  
"I read a lot. You should try it."  
  
Mirus shook his head. "I do... or I thought I did."  
  
Heron was already walking away. "Time you did some training.."  
  
Mirus started walking after her, pulling his pack over his shoulders, Grim's pokeball in hand. It felt different now something was occupying it. A little heavier? Warmer? He couldn't place it. Whatever it was, it was accompanied by that secret thrill he had, just by knowing that this tiny sphere he held, was everything he wanted.  
  
And it was his...  
  
-----------  
  
E/N: Grammar of pokemon names (capital letters and such) depend on whather the pokemon's name is its species. For those of you that are interested: "She caught an ekans earlier" implies that she has caught AN ekans, in the way that you may say She caught a rabbit earlier". If the ekans had no name, it would be named "Ekans". E.g.: "She caught Ekans earlier", in the same way as, "He caught Grim earlier". Just like calling a dog, "Dog". How inventive. Anyway, I just wanted to make a point. :P 


	3. Experience

The patch of plain grass was roughly a third the size an official battlefield should be, which was perfect for training, Heron reported.  
  
"But your pokemon must be more powerful than Grim," Mirus pointed out.  
  
"Nope. I only caught Ekans yesterday, and haven't actually trained him yet. Onix is a little tougher though- she's the one I recieved in the egg."  
  
"How can an Onix hatch?" Mirus wondered out loud.  
  
"The same as any other pokemon, but it really scared me. Good thing I was in the park, or my dad would have killed me. He doesn't actually know about my pokemon, but, then again, he doesn't know a lot about me." She sighed and stuffed her hands in her jeans.  
  
"Even though you're his daughter?"  
  
"Yeah," Heron said. There was a long pause before she spoke again. "Anyway, how about that battle?"  
  
"Great," Mirus said. "But I know nothing about battling."  
  
"Well, I won't go easy on you," Heron grinned. "Anyway, you want to concentrate on experience, not winning. Even if you loose Grim will still grow stronger."  
  
"Are you saying that so that you can win?"  
  
She laughed. "Maybe."  
  
Mirus sighed in responce. "OK then. Let's get going." He stepped several spaces back and Heron did the same, so that they were quite far apart from each other.  
  
"Right. One-on-one match, no items. Ekans, go!"  
  
Ekans slithered into the field and reared up, like a cobra. He hissed, but Mirus wisely chose to ignore it. All pokemon had to make a terrifying impression for the opponent.  
  
"Grim, let's go," he called, pressing the pokeball's button and throwing it. It was a motion he'd practiced with empty pokeballs, but never actually used.  
  
Grim materialised in front of him, shaking off light. The pokeball gave a low hum as it bounced backwards into Mirus's hand, and he awkwadly caught it, shrunk it, and placed it in his jacket pocket.  
  
He suddenly realised, in a blind panic, that he had no idea what moves poochyenas used. Think, Mirus, think. Eight years of pokemon study must mean something. He kneaded his mind breifly with his knuckles, and, thankfully, it came to him in a flash. When he next looked up, however, the battle had already started.  
  
"Ekans, Wrap attack!"  
  
Ekans reared up again, and gave a leap towards Grim, coiling on the ground around him. Clearly this was a distraction before the coils tightened and Grim was attacked.  
  
"OK Grim, jump out of the ring, and use Tackle!"  
  
"Ekans, now!"  
  
To Mirus's relief, Grim jumped high out of Ekan's coils and flung his form at Ekans's head, causing the snake to pause, confused and temporarily blinded.  
  
"Great, now Bite the tail end!"  
  
"Oh no you don't." Heron clearly had a plan. "Ekans, show him what a Bite really is."  
  
Ekans shook his head, as if to clear the pressure in his head and eyes, and flicked his tail out of the way. Grim, who had been about to Bite it, stopped, obviously confused.  
  
"Grim, move!" Mirus shouted, as Ekan's head end sped towards the poochyena, premature fangs emerging from their hidden sockets. Grim turned round in a half-panic, before being struck hard by the head. Fangs closed round his hind leg, lifting him high into the air.  
  
"Grim, Howl!" Mirus told his pokemon, aware that Grim could not do much else in this position. Grim twisted his head so he was more or less facing upwards, and Howled mournfully. It didn't seem to effect Ekans that much, and Mirus remembered, unhappily, that it wasn't even supposed to harm the opponent.  
  
Heron seemed to have the same thought as she shook her head. "Throw it, Ekans," she said.  
  
"Grim, try and land properly," Mirus started, but the poochyena was too terrified to move, and crashed into the ground before Mirus could do anything.  
  
"Grim! Are you alright? Can you get up?"  
  
The dog made no sound, and Mirus ran forward to scoop him up in his arms. Grim half-opened his eyes and gave his trainer a tiny lick, before closing them again.  
  
"You did brilliantly," Mirus assured him. "Thank you." He reached for Grim's pokeball, and called him back in a beam of red light.  
  
Heron's footfalls alerted him, and he looked up at her, running towards him, Ekans's pokeball in hand. "Is he alright?" she asked.  
  
"Fine," Mirus grinned. "Thanks for the battle, but I need to get him healed."  
  
"I don't think there's any healing machines around here," she replied, looking around. "Anyway, you battled well. Not bad for your first time."  
  
He smiled. "Thanks. Hey, I know. Why don't you come back to my house now? I can get Grim healed there, and you can... you know, meet my parents and stuff."  
  
She laughed. "OK, but I'll have to walk. I haven't got a bike."  
  
They talked along the way, Mirus wheeling his bicycle along while they both walked. It wasn't far, so after five minutes Mirus turned off into a small house on a terrace, with a tiny sign saying "The Wetlands".  
  
"And belive me, our house can be wet, with my younger sister around... watch where you put your feet," he warned Heron as he tied his bike outside. She laughed.  
  
"I'm not joking," he said, and put the key in the front door, twisting it around.  
  
"I'm home," he called weakly, stepping into the kitchen.  
  
"Hug," Michelle said, running up to him, with another toy under her arm, thumb in mouth. She'd taken it out to speak and now jammed it back in. Mirus gave her a quick hug.  
  
"This is Michelle," he told Heron. "She's four."  
  
"Five!" his sister corrected him.  
  
"Almost five. Sorry, Mish."  
  
Michelle had already run off. "She's so sweet," Heron cooed.  
  
"When she's in that mood, yes, I could call her sweet." Mirus sighed. Raising his voice, he called. "Mum! Dad! I'm back!"  
  
"Hi honey," his mum said, emerging from the living room. "Catch a pokemon? Oh, and you must be Heron. Mirus told us all about you."  
  
"I told them your name," he whispered to her. To his mum, he held out Grim's pokeball. "Yup. I caught a pokemon. But he needs healing."  
  
"Well, sort him out, then come and let me see him," his mum said. Turning to Heron, she smiled. "You are Heron, aren't you?"  
  
Heron smiled back. "Yes, Heron Stevens. Thanks for inviting me, Mrs... er..."  
  
"Metcalf, but don't bother with that. Call me Rachel. And you're welcome, really. Did you help Mirus catch his pokemon?"  
  
Heron nodded slowly, as Mirus himself reappeared.  
  
"Here he is, the amazing Grim," he said, clicking open the pokeball. The puppy emerged and yapped happily as he saw where he was.  
  
"Well done," his mother said, bending down to scratch Grim by the ears, then reaching over and hugging her son. "And thank you, Heron, for helping."  
  
She grinned weakly. "My pleasure."  
  
"Will you stay for lunch?" was the next question.  
  
"If it's not to much trouble."  
  
Mirus's mother started to sort things out in the kitchen happily, as the trio ran upstairs, Grim in the lead though he had no idea where he was going.  
  
"You have a wonderful family," Heron remarked as they sat on Mirus's bed. "What's your dad like?"  
  
"More or less the same. As mum, I mean, not Michelle." Heron grinned at that remark. "So, what's your family like?"  
  
The grin slowly faded. "My family? There's just me and Dad."  
  
Mirus nodded, and asked nothing more about that. "What's your dad like?"  
  
"Oh, you know. The usual. Can get a little mad at times. Anyway, which league were you thinking about?"  
  
They discussed things a while longer, until Mirus's mother was calling for them to eat, and only Grim's barking alerted them. 


	4. Snake hunter

The discussion over lunch had quickly turned to pokemon training.  
  
"So, Mirus, any plans for what kind of pokemon you'd like to train?" his father asked.  
  
Mirus felt Grim's warm weight on his feet, and grinned. "Well, I'm starting to thing that dog pokemon might be the best to train...," he started, before Heron interrupted.  
  
"Great! That means you'll be a Type 3 trainer, like me!" she said, smiling at him.  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked, thinking of her pokemon. "Snakes?"  
  
"That's right. I'm aiming to be great snake trainer. Heron, the snake hunter."  
  
"I'd imagine you to be a bird trainer," Mirus's mother said.  
  
"I know. But I prefer snakes," Heron replied, twisting spagetti around her fork.  
  
"What do you mean by Type 3?" Miruys asked. In all his research, he's never heard of these types.  
  
"Well, there are five types of pokemon trainer, not including breeder, co-ordinator, etc. Type 1 trains random types of pokemon, and are the most common. Type 2 trains only certain types like fire, water, grass or something, and are usually found in gyms." She paused for breath and sensed Mirus hanging onto her every word.   
  
"Type 3- that's me- train a type of specie only, such as dog, cat, dinosaur, snake or something. Type 4 trains pokemon in a specie, but those specie can only be, or often are, one type, and not all of that specie fits the catergory. Like birds, which can only be Flying, or fish, which are Water. And Type 5 pokemon have a type name, but pokemon of that catergory that aren't always that type, like Dragon. Charizard is a dragon, but not a Dragon type, though Dragonite is both."  
  
Mirus nodded, still absorbing the infomation.  
  
His father spoke up. "Isn't there a league for those final three types?"  
  
"Yes, it's a large island south of Johto and east of Houen, called Tyoke. I've been saving up to go and train there since I heard of it."  
  
"I think I've heard of that," Mirus said slowly. "Isn't it the place with four gyms?"  
  
"That's it," Heron replied. "And you can only enter if you train type 3, 4 or 5 pokemon." She took off her pokeball belt and pointed out her own pokemon.  
  
"Amazing," Mirus said, strands of spagetti sliding off his fork as it tilted. Grim happily caught the pieces as they fell on his face.  
  
"Would you like to go?" his father asked suddenly.  
  
Mirus shook his head. "I've no idea how much it costs."  
  
"We can send you there," his father said, starting to smile. "Both of you," he added, looking at Heron.  
  
"Me too?" she squealed, a smile lighting up her own face.  
  
Mirus's mother put down her fork. "But... what about... danger?" she finished.  
  
"I'll be fine, Mum. It's about time I set out what I've always dreamed of doing. I'm tired of staying behind while everyone else leaves on a pokemon journey. Please."  
  
"You did say we'd let him go on a journey."  
  
"Yes, but... so far from home?"  
  
"I'll only be gone some months maybe. A year at most. And I'll have my phone with me."  
  
"I'll buy you a PokeGear," his father said proudly. "Now you're a trainer."  
  
His mother sighed, knowing she was beaten. "Fine."  
  
"You mean it?" Heron answered.  
  
"Yes, as long as you go with him, Heron. I'd hate to think of him travelling alone."  
  
Heron nodded vigorously. "Thank you, Mrs Metcalfe."  
  
"Rachel," she corrected quietly.  
  
"So, Heron, now that's sorted, where abouts do you live? In this village?" Mirus's father asked her.  
  
"Erm, yes. Alder Way."  
  
"That's good. Would you be allowed to leave on a journey?"  
  
"Yes." No hesitation there, Mirus saw, but a tiny flicker of concern in those eyes.  
  
"Brilliant. I'll book some tickets and you can take the ferry from Vermillion. Not fancy, I'm afraid, but they'll do. How about you leave on Monday?" Mr Metcalf said happily. "I'll book you some tickets."  
  
"Two days?" Mirus's mother asked.  
  
"Doggy!" Michelle laughed, as Grim appeared near her foot. He yapped at the sound.  
  
Heron laughed. "I love this family!"  
  
Rachel looked flattered.  
  
---  
  
"Thank you, Mr and Mrs Metcalf... I mean Rachel," Heron said, starting to go a little pink.  
  
"Anytime, Heron. We'll see you on Monday. How about you come here at half eight, if it's not too much trouble. The ferry leaves at noon."  
  
"Thank you," she said again. "It's getting a bit late. Bye!" She laughed and slipped out of the door.  
  
"Nice girl," Mirus's father declaired.  
  
However, Mirus's attention was focused on the table. "Uh-oh... she left her pokeball belt." He walked over and picked it up, red-and-white orbs still attached. "I'd better ride after her."   
  
He slipped it into his pocket for safekeeping. "I'll be back in a minute," he said. "Come on, Grim!"  
  
His mother bit her lip, but said nothing.  
  
Mirus rode out in the dusk. Heron had gone left, he remembered dimly. Alder Way... A vague memory floated across his mind. Alder Way was past the park entrance, and then right... he mouthed directions as he started riding, calling out Heron's name. Grim was sprinting alongside like a black shadow, surprisingly agile in the dusk.  
  
Finally the signpost for Heron's street appeared, and in the fading light he saw a pink-haired figure slip through a door of one of the houses. Mirus sighed with relief, and rode harder.  
  
He braked and leaned his bike against the waist-high fence, before reaching up and knocking on the door. Lights gleamed in most of the downstairs rooms.  
  
A man answered after two knocks. He was tall and was holding a beer in one hand. Behind him, noises and smells erupted that were suggesting a party, but his expression was sullen.  
  
"Excuse me," Mirus asked, trying to remember the name Heron had said when he was healing Grim. "Mr Stevens? Is Heron there?"  
  
The man shook his head, frowning. "I'm not Stevens," he said, "And there is no Heron here." His voice was rising during the speach, and his expression quickly changed to one of anger, as if something Mirus said had annoyed him.  
  
"Oh. Sorry, I--" Mirus began, before the door slammed in his face. He sighed heavily. Either the man was drunk, or he was lying, or the girl who'd run into this house was not Heron after all.  
  
He was about to leave when he heard a muffled but angry shout through the door, followed by someone stomping upstairs. "Heron!"  
  
Mirus stopped, curious, and motioned for Grim, who was about to bark, to be quiet. He crept round to the side of the building, and gazed up at the windows. Only one light showed upstairs.  
  
Was Heron really here?  
  
---  
  
Grim started to whimper as Mirus drew closer to the shadow surrounding the house, avoiding any windows streaming with light. He looked up at the first floor, where the one light shone, and searched for ways to get that high.   
  
His gaze fell on a crawling ivy plant stretching close to the lighted window, but the thought he had disappeared immediatly. Climbing was not Mirus's strong point, and he didn't want to risk bruises or being discovered.  
  
A pear tree stood near the back of the house, around the same height as the first-floor windows. It was the wrong end of the house, but it was a start. Grim whimpered again as Mirus walked quietly towards the tree, and started to climb. He silenced him with an irrated wave of his hand, and concentrated on the climb. Trees were easier, he thought. They had more branches to catch you if you slipped, and less chance of falling away under your fingers and feet.  
  
Mirus reached the level of windows, and pondered over what to do next. Another light had quickly flicked on, close to where he was, and he stopped, barely daring to breathe.  
  
_Maybe I've got the wrong house_, he thought. _I shouldn't be doing this, I should wait until tomorrow._  
  
But another niggling voice in his brain told him that he might as well see what was going on, now that he was here, and anyway, hadn't that man called for Heron when he had said she wasn't there?  
  
Mirus gritted his teeth and pulled himself along. There was a four-inch-wide overhang made from bricks someway underneth the windows, just wide enough to walk on. But there was nothing to cling onto with his hands. The ivy was the only grabbable thing around, and it was a good two metres or so away. He looked down, just for an instant, and saw Grim, head on paws. For the first time Mirus appprechiated just how high up he was, and began to think that this could be a bad idea.  
  
But, somehow, he continued through his paces; one foot on the overhang, one hand reaching for another, smaller overhang over the window. Of course, there'd be nothing to hold onto between windows, so he'd have to move quickly.  
  
_What am I doing?_ he asked himself, grabbing onto the window by the tips of is fingers, and slowly edging both feet a couple of centimetres. No answer sprang forth from his mind, so he kept moving.  
  
When he reached the first lit window, he found that the curtains were drawn, so he breathed a sigh of relief and moved on towards the second. The second he came within reach of the ivy, he let go of the window's overhang he had been holding and made a wild grab for the opposing plant. For a terrible second he was convinced that this sudden movement would rip the roots out of the wall, but they held. Mirus slowly pulled his feet across so that he could look in the window.  
  
The curtains were closed. Mirus weighed several different odds in his head, before tapping, gently at first, on the window. then the tapping grew louder, but he aruptly stopped it as the curtains were drawn back.  
  
To his relief it he saw it was Heron. He almost waved, but remembered that he needed more support if the window was going to be opened.  
  
Her mouth fell open as she saw him, and shestarted to say something. Mirus shook his head, and she finally opened the window.  
  
"Hello," he said weakly.  
  
"What are you doing?" Heron asked, half-amazed, half-angry.  
  
_Good question_, Mirus thought. Aloud he said, "You left Onix and Ekans at my house." Suddenly he realised that he couldn't reach them without falling.  
  
She sighed, obviously not convinced with the answer. "You'd better come in," she said, opening the left-hand window, furthest away from him. Mirus gratefully stumbled through, Heron pulling at his collar, until he landed with a thump on the bedroom floor. She glanced towards the door, horrified, for a few moments, before breathing a sigh of relief.  
  
Mirus drew out her belt, and handed it to her. At the same time he noticed a fresh, red-purple bruise on her chin. "What happened?" he asked.  
  
She shrugged. "I tripped."  
  
This time, however, Mirus didn't let it lie. "Listen," he said. "Something's up, but I'm not going to make accusations. I came to your house just now, and asked a man whether anyone called Heron lived here. He told me no, and slammed the door, but then I heard someone inside call your name." He stopped talking and looked at her. "I'm thinking something's up."  
  
She sighed again, and turned away. "Alright," she said, not looking at him. "I live here with my dad. My mum died last year and my dad, who I hadn't seen since I was around five, turned up suddenly, promising to look after me. He moved into our house." She paused, expecting Mirus to answer.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said. "But... what was he talking about? You not being here? Was that your dad?"  
  
"Probably," she said, turning back. She showed no expression on her face. "As I said, he moved here, but doesn't care about me. He only wanted the house and the money, but makes me stay so he still gets money to look after me. He only feeds me and things so I don't run off." She snorted. "That's one of the reasons why I wanted a pokemon, to leave this place. I'd never really cared much about them before."  
  
Mirus started to nod, but pointed to her bruise. "Did you really trip over?"  
  
She looked like she was going to say something else, but stopped. "Yes," she said. Before he could say anything, she continued. "Look, please don't ask any more questions. Not here anyway. Thanks for bringing my pokemon back, but you shouldn't come here again. I'll be in the park tomorrow."  
  
He nodded, slowly, before turning to the window, and putting a leg out.  
  
"Do you need help?" she asked him.  
  
Mirus was about to reply in the affermative, but shook his head instead. "I'll be alright." He lowered himself onto the overhang, and skidded the last two metres to the ground, ignoring the burning pains in his hands. "Come on Grim," he said to the dog. "Let's go home."  
  
---  
  
"You're late," scolded his mother. "Did you give back Heron's pokemon?"  
  
"Yes," Mirus said, distractedly.  
  
"Well, why are you so late?"  
  
Mirus shook his head. "We talked."  
  
-----------  
E/N: Whew, what a long chapter. Hopefully you had noticed before that something had been going on with Heron, and I'll include the rest in the next chapter. Please review! 


	5. Welcome to Vermil

Heron was waiting at the park, as she'd promised, her ekans once again coiled around her. Mirus and Grim pulled up and she smiled at them.  
  
"Hi," she said, appearing to have forgotten about the night before.  
  
Mirus gave her a look. She sighed. "OK. What do you want to know?"  
  
Mirus leant his bike against the park's short wall and said; "When I went round to your house last night, the man there told me that he wasn't called Stevens, and you said you were. But I could have sworn he was your dad."  
  
"Simple: Stevens is my mother's name. She never married."  
  
Mirus nodded. "Does your dad hurt you at all?"  
  
Heron closed her eyes. "No," she said.  
  
"But... what about..." he pointed to the bruise on her chin. "It adds up."  
  
"Then why'd you ask?" Heron replied, furious. Her pale eyes had snapped open, but they suddenly closed again as she went quiet.  
  
"Because..." Mirus sighed. "Listen, are you trying to protect your dad in any way?"  
  
"Yeah, right. I just hate him, OK? I want to get out of that house he's taken over and get rid of him."  
  
"I'm sorry," he replied.  
  
She looked up. "What for?"  
  
"You're mad at me, right?"  
  
"Not you," Heron said, giving a small smile. "Never at you. You're my friend, right?"  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"I don't really want to talk about anything to do with my dad, OK?" She scratched Grim, who had come bounding over to see her.  
  
"Alright. Tell me about your mum."  
  
Almost to his surprise, Heron smiled and sat up straighter, ready to talk. "She was a bird trainer in the Tyoke league."  
  
"That's why you're called Heron, right?"  
  
"That's right. She was amazing. I don't want to try and copy her." She paused for a while, and continued smoothly: "She was champion for five years. I was born in Tyoke, and we moved here when I was three. That was just Mum and I. I don't know where Dad was."  
  
"Is that why you want to go to Tyoke?" Mirus asked her.  
  
"Mainly, yes. But I'd also like to go to live the whole thing that Mum told me about for myself."  
  
He nodded. "Do you remember much of it?"  
  
"Not much. I remember watching Mum battle once in the league, and I remember the house we lived in. Oh, and the island plan."  
  
"You mean like a map?" Mirus asked her, eagerly. She nodded.  
  
"Show me," he said.  
  
Heron smiled and scraped dead leaves away from a patch of dusty ground, leaving it clear. Hunting around above her, she finally snapped off a long brown twig and started to draw.  
  
The island, she explained, was like a four-sided star shape, with the south and south-east points fused together and the top very short. She started to mark out towns and a city, and a large circle towards the side, which she said was a forest. Heron added the last mountain peak and brushed away the excess dirt. "That's how I remember it," she said.  
  
Mirus nodded, and leaned closer to depher her scribbles.  
  
Heron pointed to each blob and circle with her stick, tip stained grey-brown, and gave an explaination for each. "That city is where you start. I think it's called Richgold, something like that. You have to go either clockwise. So, first there's the forest. I've got no idea what the name is. Then you reach Plainstown. That's got a gym with mice, I think. Or rats and rabbits."  
  
"Rodents," Mirus offered.  
  
"That's it." The stick waved in his direction for a second, before settling back onto Heron's map. "I don't know what badges you get for these gyms, but after Plainstown you have to go through a cave to get to Ancrock. That's got fossil pokemon. Then you go north-west to Florish town, whose gym uses--"  
  
"Grass?" Mirus interrupted.  
  
"No. Only type 3, 4 and 5 gyms, remember? Florish gym uses flower types. Then there're the mountain ranges, and Sky mountain. That contains the forth gym, that uses flying types." Heron sat back proudly. "Mum was offered a place as the gym leader, but she refused, because she wanted to move back to Kanto. Anyway, then you travel north-east to Richgold again, and the gate to the Elite Four is opened up if you have four badges. Any trainers who beat the Elite Four have to challenge each other to decide the Champion."  
  
"Do you know what pokemon the Elite Four use?"  
  
Heron shook her head. "It changes every four years, but there's still a theme. I don't even know what the theme is."  
  
"What's that?" Mirus asked, pointing to a circle Heron had scratched in the middle of the island.  
  
"The Reserve," Heron explained. "Only the Champion can catch pokemon there, and most of the rarest live in that place." She looked up. "I used to go with Mum once or twice."  
  
"Wasn't it dangerous?" Mirus asked.  
  
Heron shrugged. "Probably. But Mum wouldn't have let me come if she didn't trust me." She stood up and laughed. "We'll find better maps when we get there."  
  
"Right," Mirus agreed. He grinned. "We're leaving tomorrow, remember?"  
  
"Thanks," Heron said. "Could you thank your parents for me?"  
  
"If you thank Mr Samuel for me."  
  
"Done. He knew that dogs would be perfect for you. He knows everything." She closed her eyes and spread her arms out wide, still smiling. "I'm finally getting out of this place."  
  
"How are you going to leave?"  
  
She let her arms fall by her sides, as if she'd been yawning. "I'll just slip out like I do every day, and catch the ferry in Vermillon. Chances are he won't even notice I'm missing, let alone some of my stuff. I've already packed." Heron scratched Ekans as her pokemon coiled itself up her legs. "What time am I leaving?"  
  
"I'll meet you here at twelve. The ferry leaves at two, and it takes an hour to walk."  
  
"Thanks." To Mirus's surprise, she bent down to where he was sitting and hugged him. "You're a great friend."  
  
He grinned. "Thank my mum and dad."  
  
"You're doing that for me, remember?"  
  
"Right." Mirus scratched his pokemon's head as across his lap. "And Heron?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Thanks for telling me all... that stuff."  
  
"You're welcome." She smiled a warm smile that lit up her whole face.

* * *

The alarm was one minute early this time. Mirus didn't care. He didn't need to be fiddling with gadgets that beeped in his spare time, he was a trainer now. Grim was still curled up on his bed, and merely stretched out at the warning alarm. Mirus shook him awake.  
  
"We're leaving today," he reminded himself as well as his pokemon. Grim sprang up immediatly and pawed at the door.  
  
"Not this minute," Mirus said, quickly. He didn't want to wake up the house. "I need to pack."  
  
It was true. He'd meant to do it last night, but he had been so tired... Quickly Mirus pushed various clothes and items into a backpack. That should be enough, he estimated. How long were they going to be away? A month? If he reused clothes, yes, that should be enough. He'd take some food with him.  
  
The alarm told him that it was quarter to eleven. Mirus was startled. It took him how long to pack a bag? He quickly dressed, shoved a toothbrush into his bag which he'd forgotten, and ran downstairs, Grim following like his shadow.  
  
His parents were both downstairs. His father gave him two tickets and his allowence for that week, and his mother hugged him as if she'd never let him go.  
  
"Mum, Geroff! I'm fine," Mirus insisted. "Loads of people five years younger than me go on pokemon journeys, and I've got Grim anyway."  
  
She wasn't going to stop him going, they knew that, but it was still a futher twenty or so minutes before he was allowed to leave. He gave one wave and turned away, too excited to be upset at all.  
  
Mirus hadn't bought his bike (he couldn't carry it), so the journey was a little longer than usual, and Heron was already there as always, bag on her shoulders. She waved as she saw him and smiled.  
  
"Did you get them?" she asked, breathlessly.  
  
Mirus displayed the two tickets. "It's not twelve yet, but do you want to leave anyway?" He handed Heron her ticket. "Look after this so I don't loose it."  
  
She grinned. "Let's go."  
  
They set off, past the park gates, down a street leading south, past rows and rows of perfect textbook houses, and finally past a graffitied sign: 'Welcome to Vermil'. It was only a five minute walk from the park, but it was a symbol for the two of them. Heron laughed and made a rude sign where she presumed her house to be, and Mirus just stared at the road ahead, feeling that this was an accomplishment in itself.  
  
The grass in the route was knee-length in places, and it was some time until they found a trampled path leading to Vermillion. When they did, they found themselves discovered just as quickly- the place was swarming with travellers, most of them trainers.  
  
"I challenge you to a pokemon battle," said a boy, much younger than Mirus, wearing a battled straw hat. His face and ears were burnt red, even though the sun was not strong, but Mirus only saw a challenge.  
  
"All right," he said.  
  
Heron walked off a little way to watch the battle, but found herself challenged by a girl more their own age.  
  
Mirus turned to his battle. Grim had already bounded forward. "One-on-one battle," he said.  
  
"You don't want another chance?" asked the boy, who had been holding two pokeballs. "Why not?"  
  
"I've only got one pokemon," he blushed, ashamed to be beta to someone younger than him. "Just battle me. Afraid?"  
  
"You wish," the boy said. "Beedrill, go!"  
  
The bug erupted from the ball as quickly as Mirus realised his disadvantidge, which was quite fast. He looked at his pokemon. He'd have to reply on Grim's speed.  
  
"Beedrill, Twineedle!"  
  
Mirus said the first thing that came into his head as the two spikes launched forwards. "Grim, Tackle!"  
  
The two weapons plunged into the plush ground. But the soil beneth the green carpet was too hard for it to get stuck; the insect merely shook off the flattened grass and turned to look for its opponent, who pounded himself into its face.  
  
"Good boy, Grim!" Mirus said, and the dog barked happily.  
  
"Beedrill, Pin Missile!" the boy said, furious that his pokemon fell for that trick.  
  
The wasp shook its frail-looking head and rose up from the ground, pointing its claws at the puppy. White washed over them, as if they had caught the light, then a thin needle shot out of each, missing Grim by centimetres. The process repeated itself over and over again, lightning-fast, as Grim moved futher and futher back, with no way to move forward. Shining spikes stuck out of the ground where the insect had missed.  
  
Grim was panicking, and Mirus was too, though he was trying not to show it. Beedrill and trainer, however, were becoming more confident as Grim began to run out of room.  
  
Something in the younger boy's smile shifted the monkey wrench in the cogs of Mirus's brain. Being beaten by him? By that, smiling, sunburt seven year-old? Being beaten by a girl was one thing, but by him..  
  
"Grim," he shouted, hardly knowing what he was doing, "use Bite on the grass!"  
  
The boy grinned. "Keep Pin Missil'ing it, Beedrill."  
  
Evidently the dog thought his trainer had cracked, but he jumped to the side and tore away a large pile of grass with his teeth. It came off easily in the crumbled ground, revealing a large patch of dusty soil. Several missiles dug themselves into Grim's back, but he ignored them until his work was done.  
  
"Now," Mirus said. "Sand-Attack!"  
  
Grim dug his paws into the ground, finally understanding. The hard ground which had stopped Beedrill getting stuck was fine enough to kick into its face. He scraped out pawfuls of the dusty ground, thrusting them into the air. Beedrill, confident of winning, had moved closer to the dog, and buzzed back as the dust stung its eyes and face. It fell to the ground in shock, but unharmed.  
  
"Bite it!" Mirus commanded.  
  
"Get up Beedrill!"  
  
Only one order was obeyed. Grim sunk his teeth into the wasp's thick, hide-like exoskeleton at the neck. It left no mark, but drained the last of the strength from the pokemon. Its trainer sulkily called it back, and the stuck missiles vanished with it.  
  
"Here," the boy said, as Mirus called Grim back. "I should have known better." He handed Mirus several notes, and sat back down in his position.  
  
"Do they have nothing better to do other than sit around all day?" Heron asked from behind him, making him jump. She laughed. "I finished a while ago and watched you. You're really good now. Maybe later I'll ask for a rematch."  
  
"Did you win?" he asked her, pleased.  
  
In answer, she presented a roll of money, and flicked notes backwards. "This is great," she said, smiling. "Not only to I get to thrash people, I get paid for it too!"  
  
Mirus wasn't sure whether she was joking or not. 


	6. Aboard the Horizon

They reached the city of Vermillion at ten to one, so took the time to heal their pokemon at the centre, and buy a few items that could be useful. When the clock at the port chimed a single deep ring, Heron concluded there was half an hour left until they had to get through Customs on the ferry.  
  
"Why don't we go into the route East from here, and you can catch yourself a second pokemon?" she asked.  
  
"Do you think they'll be any dogs?" he asked.  
  
She shrugged. "I don't know, but you'll never find out until we go. Trainers release pokemon all the time or they migrate, so you find all sorts of types. Let's give it twenty minutes."  
  
Mirus agreed, and the two of them set out to the route, past a dark cave, and into another massive field of drying grasses. Grim walked ahead, tail held high. Immediately he began sniffing in the long grass, and only a rustling and a parting in them allowed Mirus to see where his pokemon was.  
  
"Hey! Grim!" he yelled. "Come back here; I don't want you to get caught or anything."  
  
Heron pointed. "There he is."  
  
As if to confirm her pointing, Grim barked sharply. Mirus might not have realised it, but he already knew his pokemon's bark so well, that if another poochyena had been there, he would have known. But as it was, he knew it, and they both ran to catch up with the sound.  
  
There, in the middle of the path, stood a vulpix, tails held spread out like an exotic fan, its crimson fur glowing. Grim was snarling, and the opponent was just staring. The amber-eyed gaze was too strong to be mistaken for terror, and Mirus could see the vulpix's muscles tensing beneath the thick fur. He had to strike it first.  
  
"Howl and Tackle, Grim," Mirus said, trying to catch his breath as he stopped.  
  
The dog gave a wailing war cry-like howl, and jumped up to its opponent, skidding a little on the ground.  
  
"Vul!" barked the fox, and it sprang to the side, making Grim have to dig his claws into the ground to stop. It tossed its head and spewed out a veil of orange flame, blackening a sheet of the poochyena's fur as it leapt aside in turn.  
  
"Howl and Tackle again, Grim," Mirus said. If he kept getting his attacking power up, just one Tackle should be enough...  
  
Another screeching wail and Grim started off towards the fox, which was breathing fire to try and head him off. But the dog hurtled face-first through the flames and slammed its shoulders and side straight into it.  
  
The impact was strong; driven by fear and attack power, and the vulpix was hit full on. It staggered back, but used the momentum to push off from a stone and spring back.  
  
A tough one, Mirus thought. Perfect for a dog team.  
  
He watched the two pokemon tearing at each other's ears and fur, looking like puppies at play, but snarling as they tried desperatly to win.  
  
"Pull back and another Tackle, Grim!" Mirus cried out, and suddenly it was all over. Grim had knocked the opponent head-over-heels until it collapsed in an exhausted heap.  
  
Mirus did not say anything, but he tapped the front button of a pokeball he had placed in his hand, and threw it, maximized, at the unconscious fox. It sprang open on contact, and steadily absorbed the vulpix in waves of crackling red light. Finally the sphere clicked shut, and the button locked itself with barely a struggle from the creature within.  
  
Grim picked up the pokeball in his mouth, and, tail wagging slowly, brought it to his trainer. Mirus took it and gave Grim a hug, before calling him back too.  
  
"You did it!" she said. "I'm sorry to rush you, though, but we've only got enough time to run to the port so we don't miss the ferry."  
  
He jolted back to earth and clicked the two balls onto his belt. He started running after the already sprinting Heron, grass thrashing their jeans.

* * *

Customs took some time; with them handing in their tickets temporarily, getting paper labels strapped around their bag handles, and Heron and Mirus waiting in a long cue amongst other pokemon trainers, underneath a giant billboard stamped "Tyoke". When that cue finally ended, both trainers waited to get their bags X-rayed, and let out their pokemon to be examined while the empty pokeballs were run through the X-ray machine also.  
  
A notice plastered to a nearby wall talked about items that were illegal to bring into Tyoke, and explained that pokemon had to be examined to check for any drugs in their bloodstream that might give them an unfair advantage in the league, though they were tested at Tyoke as well. Larger pokemon remained in their pokeballs and they were passed through a harmless scanner to check for anything inside the pokeballs as well as checking for drugs.  
  
Mirus read the notice for a few minutes while Grim and his newly captured and healed vulpix were examined and run over with a miniature hand-scanner. It reminded him of the ones they used to check baby pokemon inside eggs. Heron's Onix had to go through the scanner still in its pokeball.  
  
Finally they were ushered out of the building, passed a nice lady who smiled at everyone and tore bits of their tickets and climbed up a ramp to the SS Horizon. Then they were shown to their cabins (Mirus's father had booked two, side by side) and Mirus let himself fall back on his bed, relieved.  
  
A knock on the door suggested that Heron was outside, and he gladly opened the door to let her in. The window opened up to a view of Kanto's landscape, with mountains in the distance, and she ran to it.  
  
"Isn't it beautiful?" she asked, nose practically pressed to the glass. "Still, Tyoke's stunning too. Wait till you see it!" She looked around Mirus's cabin.  
  
"What's your room like?" Mirus asked.  
  
"Nice. Like yours, but a little dustier." She wrinkled her nose. "Come on, I want to have a look at the battlefields. They've got some really good..."  
  
A tannoy announcement crackled into life. "Type three trainers, please report to main foyer for trainer license checkup. Repeated: Type three trainers please report to main foyer. Thank you."  
  
Heron looked at him. "I don't have a license," she said, looking stricken.  
  
"We'll have to see about that when we get there, then," he told her, grabbing a key off a nearby hook that was presumably meant for him. "Let's go."  
  
He gave Heron a minute to lock her own door, before they set off down the corridors and down two flights of steps to the main foyer. A line of trainers was already queued up, but it was declining before their eyes, and they ran to catch up.  
  
The last person left just as they reached the desk. "Type three license checkup?" a lady behind it asked them.  
  
"Yes, but we don't have licenses," Heron said, worried.  
  
She looked at them and reached for something underneath the desk. "Your names?"  
  
Mirus gave his, but Heron, apparently terrified that this was for the police and she'd have to go home after all, remained silent.  
  
She smiled down at her. "We get many people on their first journey here. This is for your license."  
  
Heron let out a breath. "Heron Stevens," she said.  
  
The lady wrote their names down. "Room numbers?"  
  
They told her and she wrote those down too. "And type three trainer. Right, we'll have your licenses delivered to your rooms at the end of the day. For now, take these to ensure you can use the facilities." She handed them two laminated cards, each with a number in the top corner, and started writing their names and card numbers on another piece of paper. "Please return those by this evening. That's all. Thank you." She smiled at them in a robot-like way and the two of them walked off.  
  
"I thought she was going to arrest us!" Heron said, half-laughing, hand to her heart.  
  
"Come on, let's see about those battlefields," Mirus said, smiling as well.  
  
Behind them, another announcements rang the ceilings. "Type four trainers, please report to main foyer for trainer license checkup. Repeated: Type four trainers please report to main foyer. Thank you."

* * *

Heron pushed open the door to Battle Room Six they'd been given and gasped. It was huge- massive with a high ceiling and two proper league-sized trainer boxes, red and green, at each end. The battlefield looked relatively normal, so a part of the wall near them drew their attention. It had a wire and glass casing over it, and Heron moved towards it for a closer look. Mirus followed.  
  
"Look at this!" she said, pulling back the casing like a lid, and gazing out onto a volley of switches. She flicked one saying "Unlock" but only a small amount of buttons and switches lit up.  
  
"Wow," he answered in reply. There was nothing else to say. Heron grabbed a large switch that had a tiny window next to it saying "Plain". She pushed it upwards, and a grating sound rang out from the centre of the battlefield. Mirus pointed as a section near the centre of the field slid back to reveal a pokemon battle-style lake.  
  
The tiny window near the switch now said, "Water". A whole row of lights now blinked at them, and Heron turned her attention to those. A sign said "0% chlorinated, 0% salt."  
  
Two digital LED screens seemed to be controlling water temperature. One had up and down buttons next to it, like lift call buttons, and had a label saying "desired water temperature". The other said "current water temperature". Both read 15°C.  
  
Heron grabbed another switch, and Mirus just had time to see what it said ("islands- none, one, two, three...") before another grating sound scraped out and three rounded league-style islands rose out of the water, one large one centred between the two trainers, and the others in front of each trainer box.  
  
By this time, Heron was flicking switches with a speed Mirus had never seen. She pushed the lever that currently read water upwards until it read "Rock". The doors closed over the water and there were some groaning noises, like a CD being switched in a car but much louder, and the doors opened again, expelling a marvelous rocky terrain, perfect for rock pokemon; or a flying type could perch on those high peaks.  
  
Again Heron pushed the lever, until it read "Sand". This time the groaning terrain was like a giant sand pit. Mirus noticed a notice next to the lever about the sand. "Sand depth is only 5m deep- please bear this is mind and do not use larger digging pokemon. The rest of the battlefield is not to be dug upon; it is solid under that solid layer."  
  
The lever refused to be pushed any higher, so a disappointed Heron pulled it back to "Plain" and turned on the other switches.  
  
"Let me have a go," Mirus asked, but she wouldn't let him.  
  
"Come on, let me try these out first. I love stuff like this."  
  
There were only two switches and two dials left. Heron tried the nearest dial, but it wouldn't budge, so she flicked the switch next to it into the "on" position and tried again to turn it again.  
  
"Woah!" she said, as fire erupted from hidden holes on the pitch. They had risen out of the ground when she'd flicked the switch, and now the further she turned the dial, the more intense the flames became. Heron left them burning, and flicked the switch so it read "random".  
  
As flames blasted randomly from the holes in the pitch, Mirus turned back to the notices and read the one about fire aloud. "Please do not leave the flames burning on full for too long as it can melt the pitch... recommended only for fire-type or fire-resistant pokemon... the power of 'random' fire spurts depends again on the dial... same rules apply again for Lightning."  
  
"Fascinating," Heron said, turning off "fire" and moving to "Lightning" instead. Tall poles rose out of the ground, and as Heron turned the dial, the crackled with power. She flicked the random, and immediately several poles began exchanging electricity in long strings or ribbons, then letting go to crackle on their own, and starting up again.  
  
There were no more dials, switches of buttons, so Heron flicked Lightning "off", and turned to Mirus.  
  
"How about that rematch?" she asked.

* * *

E/N: I have a feeling this is going to be a long one. Please tell me in your review whether I should continue making it long, or whether I should cut it in some way. If I do make Mirus and Heron toil around Tyoke, it won't just be the pokemon journey routine again- I'll be including more hidden plotlines and such...  
  
Anyway, please review! You only have to click that little button down there and say what you thought... if you bothered to read this, could you at least tell me whether it was good or bad? Thanks!


	7. Rematch revenge?

What better place to have a pokemon battle? Mirus thought. Heron had let him fiddle with the switches, and now he stood in the red trainer box, with the battlefield set to Plain and Heron facing him. They'd agreed on a battle with two pokemon each, and now Mirus was waiting for their rematch to start.  
  
"Ladies first," he said, grinning.  
  
She wasted no time. "Ekans, go!" she yelled as she chose her first pokemon. The white shape dimmed into purple as her pokemon hissed and stared strongly at Mirus.  
  
He thought briefly. If Grim was knocked out and he had to choose Chilli (he'd talked to the vulpix earlier and named him after her fiery colour) to battle with her onix, she'd have no hope. So he'd have to send her out now. The trouble was, she'd only talked and been introduced to Mirus in the last minute, and she hadn't actually battled yet. He had no idea how strong she was. And what about the strength of Heron's onix? How strong was it? Probably stronger than Ekans, if it was her first... he'd seen it battle, but only once. It had won.  
  
"Hurry up," Heron shouted tauntingly.  
  
He said the first thing that came into his head. "Don't you want to have more time before I win?"  
  
She laughed. "Don't get cocky. I won't go easy on you."  
  
Mirus didn't want her to 'go easy on him'. He unhooked Chilli's pokeball from his belt, tapped the button and threw it. "I know this is your first time, Chilli, but please try your best!" he called down to her.  
  
She turned her head back to her and nodded, with no expression of regret on her flame-coloured face. "Vulpix vul," she told him.  
  
Mirus took that as a promise. "OK, go! Quick Attack and Ember!"  
  
Heron looked down on her pokemon. "Avoid it the best you can before striking," she advised him. "When it's clear, use a Bite."  
  
Chilli was already on the move, speeding up to the snake, tails waving gently. Mirus thought he saw flashes of white trail after her, but he blinked and they were gone. He tried to concentrate on the battle, but if Ekans stayed where it was, it would be difficult to see. This was his first time battling on an official Olympic and league-sized field.  
  
Ekans remained motionless until Chilli was less than a metre away, breathing snatches of fire that were whipped away in streaks behind her as she ran. He then shifted the coils of scales away from her path, as Chilli, unable to stop herself, slammed into Heron's trainer box. She spun round, angry but confused.  
  
Even from his view, high up, Mirus found it hard to see more of his pokemon than the telltale wave of orange behind scales. "Chilli, dodge whatever it throws at you and run this way, quickly!" he shouted. If he could lure Ekans down here, Heron might have the same problem...  
  
The vulpix heard him and tried desperatly to dodge scales and Bites. But she was dazed from her crash, which made it harder. Finally she saw a way through, and leapt over a coil, back to Mirus's end of the field.  
  
"That's it, closer!" he shouted. "Come on, you're doing it. We can--"  
  
"Ekans, Bite her!" Heron had called, and now the viper had launched forward with amazing speed Mirus had never thought possible. He slid in front of Chilli's path and reared up.  
  
The orange fox, terrified, had backed slowly away, looking desperatly for an entrance.  
  
"Ember," Mirus suggested, but the blast of flames only snagged on the side of the snake's head as he moved forward to attack.  
  
"Don't worry, Chilli. I'm proud of you," Mirus told her, pressing the button on her pokeball and feeling the familiar warmth spread through the sphere in a flash of red. He wasn't going to make the mistake of letting his pokemon run off again.  
  
Heron was looking smug, but as Ekans crawled back to his starting space, she called out, "That was pretty good for a new pokemon. Ekans is stronger than with his battle with Grim."  
  
"But not stronger than Grim," Mirus muttered. That he was sure of. The beedrill he had battled was pretty tough, and Ekans was already weakened.  
  
"Grim, it's all up to you now!" Mirus said, throwing his second pokeball. Grim's eyes focused immediately on his opponent and he growled in his throat.  
  
"OK Grim, I need you to win this for me!" he said. It was one against two now, but he had a feeling Grim could do it.  
  
"Ekans, the same as before," he heard Heron say.  
  
"Grim," Mirus said, thinking fast, "I want you to go to the centre of the battlefield and sit there." He lowered his voice. "When I say, pretend you're going to attack, but run straight back to my end."  
  
The poochyena wagged his tail and bounded happily up to the centre circle. He sat inside it and waited. Ekans watched him accusingly, and did nothing. For some time neither pokemon moved. Then: "Now!" Mirus shouted, and Grim leapt at the snake.  
  
"Go!" Heron said, putting her foot in the trap. All Mirus needed to do now was pull on the rope.  
  
Ekans reared up to attack and slithered forwards with its speed. Grim gave Ekans a quick nip, then immediately pulled out and ran backwards. Ekans was angry at this, and spared no thoughts for being too far away for Heron to see. He sped after a running Grim until they were both at Mirus's end of the field.  
  
"Now, confuse it and Bite!" he said.  
  
Ekans was still intent on attacking Grim; he was letting his guard down. Grim was running quickly, leaping over coils of scales and dodging fangs. In short, he was practically being tied in a giant knot. Then Grim attached himself onto Ekans's neck and sung his small, sharp teeth into his neck. It didn't bleed, but bruised, and Ekans hissed wildly.  
  
"Finish it!" Mirus called.  
  
Heron was shouting orders to Ekans, but she must have been having the same problem Mirus had, and her shouts were ineffective. One more Tackle from Grim knocked the tired snake to the ground.  
  
As Heron called her pokemon back, he saw that Grim was tired. Heron had not even used her onix yet; how would he react to that?  
  
"Go, Onix!"  
  
Mirus couldn't hide his worry; the snake was massive compared to Grim. Rearing higher than he had imagined, the rocks in Onix's body grated slightly as he moved.  
  
"If you found Ekans hard to beat, you won't win against Onix," Heron told him. She seemed to have picked up his worry, or was trying to encourage it.  
  
"Watch me." Mirus turned to Grim. "Even if you think you can't beat Onix, give it your best shot."  
  
Grim's tail was between his legs, but at his words it gave a small twitch. After all, Mirus reminded himself, Grim was only a few days old- he'd never seen an Onix before, and only battled a handful of pokemon.  
  
"Use your speed, Grim!" Mirus said.  
  
"Onix, this can be over quickly if you do this right. Your opponent's weakened and you have a tough resistance."  
  
Onix roared in reply and shook its tail. Grim's muscles twitched as he tried not to back away.  
  
"Right, now Quick Attack and climb on its head!" Mirus said. "You can attack from there."  
  
"Tackle it and use your tail," Heron ordered the rock snake.  
  
Grim sped forwards, and Onix moved towards it in its own fashion, swinging its tail from side to side. Grim jumped each time to avoid the blows, but he slowed down his pace with tiredness, and immediately a tail was slammed into his side. He went flying, landing in a heap some feet away.  
  
"Now finish it!" Heron called.  
  
"Jump up, Grim," Mirus said. If he could get on Onix's head, he might stand a chance.  
  
Grim's eyes opened and he spun round, taking a leap on the snake's head. His body fitted over Onix's head and his feet waved in his eyes, making him rear around angrily.  
  
"Get rid of it, Onix," Heron said, sounding almost bored. "Then a Whiplash and you've defeated him."  
  
Onix tossed his head, but Grim clung tight. Mirus began to have a hope that they might win, but Grim's tiredness finally showed, and he started to slip off. A flick of the head and tail tossed Grim off, and Onix's tail slammed into him again like a bat hits a ball. The dog lay motionless, and Mirus had no choice but to call him back.  
  
"I think you inherited your mum's battle style," Mirus told her as she called back her pokemon too.  
  
"Thanks," she said, smiling fully. "You battled well, but I've been training Onix for some time; I did have a head start."  
  
That made Mirus feel better in himself. He handed Heron a few notes, but she laughed. "You keep your money," she told him.  
  
"Right. Let's go back to the rest of the ship," he said. "I need to heal my pokemon."  
  
A reluctant Heron flicked the row of switches to "lock" and shut their case before they left the room and signed out. Mirus found a pokemon healing machine outside one of the battlefields and they both healed their pokeballs, while Heron looked down the hall at the row of doors.  
  
"How do they fit all those battlefields in?" she asked.  
  
"You know... probably the rest are smaller," Mirus suggested. He waited for a few moments while the machine did its work, listening to the battle cries that came through the nearby doors, and the occasional roar of attacks.  
  
"Here," Heron said, pressing two pokeballs into his hand.  
  
"Thanks," he replied, tearing his attention away from the battling her could hear.  
  
They found the stairs and climbed them quickly, until they reached the main floor. Heron ran to a nearby window as she glimpsed sea. Then she looked back to the opposite window, before focusing through this one again.  
  
"I missed it," she said, hands pressed against the thick glass, her breath issuing clouds of fog. "We've left Kanto behind, and I didn't see it leave."  
  
She turned back to Mirus and smiled. "Well, I'm safe from my dad now. He won't even know I've gone truly away till tonight, and I bet he won't care if he finds out."  
  
"I didn't even know we began moving," Mirus admitted.  
  
"Me neither. Hey, let's have look around."  
  
A notice tacked to a nearby pillar read that only pokemon under 1m in height were allowed out of their pokeballs anywhere but the battlefield, and no more than two at a time per trainer. Battles could only take place on the battlefield or on deck, though on deck the same height rules applied.  
  
Heron and Mirus took this as an opportunity to let their pokemon have a walk, or in Ekans's case, hang around Heron's neck lazily. By this time the clocks read after four, so the two trainers decided to get something to eat.  
  
Food, to Mirus's relief, was free. He had already experienced Grim's eating, and dimly suspected Chilli wouldn't be much better. They were both battling pokemon, and they needed to keep their strength up.  
  
"I won't be able to feed Onix," Heron said, seemingly to Ekans. She turned to Mirus. "Still, the pokeball looks after them, as long as they do have a meal every few days."  
  
He nodded. "And you have to feed them more if they battle a lot."  
  
She smiled at him. "So you do read a lot," she said.  
  
"I try."  
  
As they reached the end of the queue, Mirus modestly took some chips and sausages, while Heron piled her plate high with all kinds of food. He stared. "I thought girls only ate a little?" he asked her.  
  
"Think again," Heron said, still smiling. "I'm so hungry- I haven't eaten since breakfast."  
  
At which Mirus remembered he'd had a sandwich earlier and said nothing else. Heron, however, continued to smile at him. "I'm always hungry," she explained.  
  
After they had finished their meal, with Grim, Chilli and Ekans snatching food off Mirus and Heron's plates instead of eating their own meals, Heron thought it would be a good idea to go to bed. "I want to get up early tomorrow," she said.  
  
Mirus wished he'd remembered to bring his alarm clock, but then recalled it had to be plugged in to work. Not much good in the middle of a route with no towns for possible miles. For the first time he wondered how tough the terrain would be. But instead of being nervous, it made him feel more excited. "Could you wake me up too?" he asked.  
  
She laughed again. "If I can actually get up, sure."  
  
They were walking to their cabins now. Grim and Chilli were playing as they walked, while Ekans could probably be mistaken for being asleep, save for one yellow eye that opened slightly for every step Heron took. Finally they reached them, and said their goodnights.

* * *

Someone was screaming. The voice sounded totally unfamiliar. Mirus's first instinct was that it was a lost soul on the ships or someone thrown overboard, but he dismissed that idea immediately. It was most likely a pokemon like a Wingull, screeching as it flew.  
  
The voice was muffled now, and he concluded that it could not have been that loud in the first place, or someone would have noticed. He tried to sit up and go to look at the window, but he couldn't move. This convinced him that it must be a dream, and he fell back to sleep, glad of the escape.

* * *

E/N: Another chapter finished. Please review if you haven't already. If you have, please review this chapter too. Thanks!  
  
Anyways, Lunar Sphinx: how'd I get the name Mirus?: I don't know, I just thought of it I'm a great fan of strange names. Keleri, I often go into long 'writing sprees' for a certain story, then don't add to them for ages. At the moment I'm writing pages of this one, so I should be able to keep it up for some time. I'm guessing that's a long one then?


	8. Arrving in Tyoke

A pounding throbbed through Mirus's head. He tried to ignore it and rolled over under the covers. The pounding continued. And Mirus probably would have slept through it, if a little pink tongue had not poked out and licked him on the face.  
  
"Vul!" said the owner of the tongue as Mirus sat up. It was Chilli, and she seemed impatient.  
  
Now shouts could be heard through the pounding. "Get up! Come on, you wanted me to wake you!"  
  
"I'm up," Mirus said as loudly as he could. "Go away, Heron."  
  
But Heron continued to bang her fist of the door every few seconds until Mirus hobbled over to the door and opened it. She was already dressed. "Come on! I've been kicking your door for ages. Are you dressed yet? We're here!"  
  
Mirus tried to depher each exclamation at a time, and by the time he'd finished, Heron had already disappeared. He closed his door and went to the window to look out. Sure enough, a landscape could be seen. Mirus saw they were coming up to a city, but he also could see a forest, and- hazy in the distance- mountains.  
  
He quickly showered, dressed and cleaned his teeth, Chilli and Grim playing again and getting under his feet. They seemed to know that the ferry had almost finished moving, and were getting even more excited.  
  
Finally, Mirus was ready. He tried to make the bed look at least respectable, and brushed several plastic wrappers into a bin. Then he could leave, key in hand.  
  
Heron was there again, waiting in the corridor. "You took ages," she complained. "Oh, by the way- this came for you last night, but you were asleep so I took it." She held up a small laminated card. "It's your license."  
  
"Thanks," Mirus said, finally starting to emerge from his sleepwalking-like trance. He took the card and slotted it into his jeans, without bothering to look at it.  
  
He and Heron were still in the breakfast queue when a tannoy announcement said that the ferry had stopped, and all keys should be handed into the main desk by nine, when everyone should leave. Mirus's watch read almost eight, so they took the time to wait in the already decreasing queue and have some toast to eat for them and their pokemon. Heron took a few spare packets of pokemon food, shoving them into her bag.  
  
"For later," she explained.  
  
They left the ferry soon after that, handing in keys and the passes they'd borrowed the day before. Then they could finally leave the boat, and Mirus could take his first steps into Tyoke.  
  
It was quite hot- hotter than Kanto. Heron explained to him that it was the coolest part of the island, which did not make him feel much better. She seemed right at home, although Chilli was the only one who didn't seem to feel the heat change. It made sense though, Mirus thought, being the north part of the island. Kanto and Johto were north from Tyoke, and some of the mountains there had snow. He found it hard to imagine snow here, but Heron assured him he'd get used to it.  
  
Flapping little pieces of paper or hats, the group of trainers made their way to a large hall that was near the dock. At the door, the trainers' pokemon were given another test to assure they did not cheat in the league with drugs- this took some time- until finally, they were allowed in. Instantly everyone felt cooler and the babble of talk resumed itself as people moved between large desks that hat been set up.  
  
The nearest desk had a large sign reading "Pokedexes". Mirus grabbed Heron's hand, and after translating the scrawled shorthand on one of the sides, concluded they'd have enough for two pokedexes between them. Heron didn't mind giving up a little of her money for a pokedex when Mirus offered to pay- she explained that she could always win some more battles.  
  
They both tried to shuffle through the crowd that had gathered itself at this desk. Trainers who were on their second or further league hung around the other desks or the door, waiting for their friends. Others had already left. After scanning the crowd, Mirus concluded that there could only be twenty or thirty trainers, though it seemed like a lot more.  
  
Suddenly he realised he was at the front, facing a bored-looking man, doodling on a notepad. "Trainer card," he said, failing to smile.  
  
Mirus pushed it across the desk to him. The man picked it up and nodded, typing the number on it into his computer. "Pokemon specie."  
  
"Dog," he replied, feeling Chilli and Grim still at his feet.  
  
The man nodded and found a smart black pokedex, pushing it forward. "Three thousand," the man said, waiting for the money. Mirus handed over his wad of notes, and took his pokedex and card in exchange.  
  
Looking behind him, he saw Heron, Ekans still round her shoulders, pushing through the crowd. Ekans was hissing at everyone who got in her way, and they backed off quickly. Mirus had to stop himself from laughing, even though the ten and twelve year-olds looked genuinely terrified.  
  
After Heron had received her pokedex (blue) she joined Mirus again. "No problem," she beamed.  
  
He gave her a small push. "Why'd you scare them?" he asked.  
  
"One of the little idiots trod on my foot," she said.  
  
Mirus rolled his eyes, and looked back to his pokemon index. "Why'd they give use different ones?" he asked.  
  
"The different types," she replied. "Yours tells you whenever you run into a pokemon that classifies as a dog type. Oh, and we need to register our pokemon when we leave."  
  
"Hang on," Mirus said, looking at some of the other desks. "Shouldn't we buy some supplies and stuff first?"

* * *

They both left, fully prepared. With his remaining money, Mirus had managed to buy some potions and pokeballs- he'd only had one left after he'd caught Chilli. He had also bought some other random items he thought might come in useful. Heron was pleased with one of her purchases- a rather large thorn.  
  
"What's that for?" Mirus asked her.  
  
"To eat," she replied sarcastically. She laughed. "No, it's for Ekans, a Poison Barb. It makes his attacks more powerful. I would have bought some other items like this, but I didn't actually have enough money. It was a bit expensive."  
  
"How much?" Mirus asked.  
  
"One thousand."  
  
"A thousand pokedollars for a thorn?" But Mirus was only a little shocked. He already knew Heron well enough to know that she always was convinced that she knew best. "OK then, fine. But it still looks like something you'd break off a plant."  
  
Heron shrugged and put the thorn back into her pocket. They were back in the open air now, but they were all starting to get more used to the stickiness.  
  
"By the time we get to Plainstown," Heron said, "You won't notice the heat."  
  
Mirus was starting to believe her, because if they didn't find the gate to the route, it would be ages until they got there.  
  
"We need to ask someone," Mirus insisted. He looked around, and saw an old man sitting on a bench, pokemon at his heels, under the shade of a small beech tree, which had been grown there.  
  
"Excuse me," he asked, walking up to the man, Grim and Chilli at his heels. The man looked up at him. "Do you know where the gate to Plainstown is?" He felt embarrassed. "We're lost already."  
  
The man smiled. "On your pokemon journey then?"  
  
"Yes," Heron said, who had caught up with him. "We'd really appreciate it if--"  
  
"Are you a canine pokemon trainer?" the man asked Mirus suddenly, ignoring Heron.  
  
"Yes," he answered, surprised. He looked down at the man's pokemon. It was a houndoom, with grey fur around its muzzle and loose skin around its collar and back. The silver horns and plates were dull.  
  
"Now, you don't see many of those around any more," the man said. He seemed delighted. "How much do you know about training dogs?"  
  
"Not much," he admitted. "Only they work better in dual battles."  
  
He sensed Heron's impatience: "Could you please tell us--"  
  
"Yes, dual battles work well. Comes from a dog's instinct of living in a pack. And with dogs, you need to make sure that you're the boss. Respect drives a good dog pokemon. Another pack instinct. They like to be given strong orders."  
  
Mirus nodded, absorbing every word. "Respect. Thank you, I'll remember that."  
  
"Please, sir; about this gate--"  
  
"Have you thought about your legendary?" the man asked him.  
  
Mirus looked up. "My legendary?"  
  
Heron waved her hands in impatience as the conversation turned another corner.  
  
"Yes, the dog legendary. That's one of the reasons you don't see many dog trainers- only one legendary! And everyone wants their legendaries. The one you want is Suicune."  
  
"Suicune?" Mirus thought. "What about Entei and Raikou?"  
  
The man shook his head. "They're not dogs, those are cats. There are many cat legendaries." He nodded to himself. "Oh, and types- this applies for all trainers really."  
  
Heron stopped making waving motions with her hands and listened.  
  
"You want a good balanced team. Different types, but all dogs. You've already got a Dark and Fire, I can see that. So a pokemon like Ignight here would be no use to you unless you changed teams." He pointed to his houndoom. "Try not to copy types. It will give you a great advantage." He sat back. "Now, something you wanted to ask me?"  
  
Heron had turned away from the conversation again when she realised it was about something she already knew. Now she turned back and began talking. "We're looking for the Plainstown Gate," she explained.  
  
"Oh, that," the man said. "You want to just walk on that road-" he pointed in the opposite direction to which they had been traveling "-and you'll find the gate soon enough."  
  
Mirus thanked the man for both of them, and jogged to catch up after Heron. "Well, you now know everything you need about dog pokemon," she laughed. "Do you want to catch Suicune?"  
  
Mirus had not given it much thought before today, and he nodded. "Yes." Then he thought of something. "Is there only one?"  
  
"Probably not," Heron admitted, "but people like to say it as singular. It makes it sound more special. But there are probably quite a few suicunes, enteis, raikous and all that."  
  
"What's your legendary?" Mirus asked.  
  
"Rayquazza," Heron said, "now you mention it. It's the only snake or dragon legendary there is, so I've got to fight to get to one. But that won't be a problem."  
  
Mirus absent-mindedly nodded. He'd seen Suicune in books along with other legendaries, and remembered its dark, flowing cloak and the ice-coloured ribbons that always flickered as though a wind was blowing. He'd seen a suicune on television once, but had never really appreciated its beauty and power.  
  
"Finally!" Heron said, stopping only feet away from the Plainstown Gate. "We're here." They looked up at the old stone arch and an old iron gate still attached, rusted with age. The other was missing. There was no name label, just graffiti, sprayed in bright colours across the inside and outside of the arch, marking names and crude drawings of pokemon. On either side of the gate was nothing except grass or bare ground. Mirus pointed it out.  
  
"Isn't that a bit pointless?" he asked.  
  
"Maybe," Heron shrugged. "But I think it shows you onto the right path. At least we know we're supposed to be here."  
  
Mirus agreed with her, nodding. He then turned to his pokemon, and reached for their pokeballs. "We'd better recall them in case we run into a trainer."  
  
"Good idea," Heron said, pointing a pokeball at Ekans. "And we need to register them."  
  
So they both recalled their pokemon, and Mirus found himself wondering something else: how did they know which pokeball was which? Before, he'd just had one pokemon, but now he could tell which hand held Chilli and in which one Grim waited. But he didn't know how. It confused him, but he decided he'd work out the answer sooner or later.  
  
Heron was already fumbling with her pokedex, reading whatever writing flicked up on the screen. "We need to attach the pokeball to this little thing here," she said, pointing a spare finger at the base of the pokedex.  
  
Mirus quickly found the same page Heron was on. It worked a lot like his home computer- he guessed the manufacturers were the same- so he navigated his way around quite easily. Quickly he registered Grim and Chilli, trying hard not to drop either of them. A little screen flashed up telling him that he would be required to hand his pokedex in to the pokemon league before entering, and that he should record all new pokemon he captured, and record them again if they evolved. He canceled the message, switched the machine off, and tucked it into a pocket.  
  
Heron was still pouring over hers. "It says that it won't stop you capturing pokemon of your type, but you will only be able to use your selected type in gyms and the pokemon league. Your pokedex will be required as proof of your selected type." She looked up. "It's all so... official. You know, like this isn't a game any more."  
  
"It's not a game," Mirus said. "It's a sport."  
  
"And there you go, reciting sport slogans," Heron said rolling her eyes. "Com eon, I want to battle someone." She started walking off, and Mirus followed her, only half-sighing.  
  
They didn't have far to walk before another pair of trainers spotted them.

* * *

E/N: Ha ha, pair of trainers. That wasn't intended. But because I can't think what to say for this chapter, I'll rattle on for a bit about legendary names. If you don't want to listen, please submit a review now and you'll be spared. For you very strange people reading this now, here we go: I write Suicune with a capital letter, because people tend to think of there being only one, even though there isn't, as I made Heron explain. You'll notice that when I did write "a suicune" I wrote the S in lower-case letters. It's just that I was treating "Suicune" without an "a" or "the", which is how a name would be treated. Holy magikarp, I'm turning into an English teacher.  
  
Oh, and Ignight is a name I made up from "ignite" and "night"- Fire and dark- houndoom. I know it sounds, the same, but at least you know now if you didn't already.  
  
Keleri: Ekans can be draped around her neck beacuse... well, it keeps its head and tail up, of course. It just sounds nice- in one of my fics there was a dragonair wrapped around someone's body, and I know that's around... very big.  
  
Well, off you go! Haven't you got a... review to write or something? (Hint, hint.) Oh, and thanks for reading this. Yes, thank you!


	9. Livewire

The trainers turned out to be two girls, one with a treeko with its arms over her shoulders, the other with an espeon winding its slender body around her legs.  
  
The espeon-girl saw Mirus and Heron, and started walking over to them. The second girl followed her, almost unwillingly.  
  
"Who'll battle me?" the first girl said. She looked at both of them, before settling on Mirus. "You'll do."  
  
Before Mirus could object to being spoken to like this by a girl considerately younger than him, Heron stepped in. "Don't be a brat, brat. Spread the fun around."  
  
The girl looked furious. "All right then. I'll beat you."  
  
Heron was smiling. "I haven't lost a battle yet, and I'm not going to let someone like you stand in my way." Mirus sensed the beginning of a full-scale argument.  
  
"My name is Lucia," the girl said, tossing back her blonde hair, "and I've never lost a battle either. You'll just be another victim."  
  
Mirus noticed the treeko-girl looking anxious too, but she offered a hand to Mirus. "Hi, I'm Laura," she said. Mirus shook it.  
  
Meanwhile Heron was still talking to Lucia. "Lucia! Ha! My name's Heron, and you'd better learn that and respect it."  
  
This time it was Lucia who laughed. "Heron!" Your parents must have been drunk when she thought of that! Was your mum mad?"  
  
That was the soft spot, and Heron literally blew. "Listen, you brat," she snapped. "My mum was a brilliant pokemon trainer and league champion, and I'm going to show you not to mess with her daughter!" She tossed a pokeball. "Onix, go!"  
  
"Oh no," Laura said. "I wish Lucia wouldn't loose her temper so much. She can be a bit stuck-up at times." Laura looked the eldest out of the two of them, with black hair and brown eyes, and Mirus guessed her to be around fourteen.  
  
"Heron tends to loose her temper most of the time too," Mirus said. "Oh, by the way, I'm Mirus. Don't laugh."  
  
She didn't. "So, how about a battle? I'm a dragon trainer."  
  
"Good," Mirus said. "I train dogs. How does one-on-one sound?"  
  
They both turned their backs on Onix fighting Lucia's espeon and started their own battle.  
  
"Juniper, go!" Laura told the treeko around her neck. It nodded and let go, jumping into the space between the two trainers.  
  
"Chilli," Mirus said, tossing her pokeball. The vulpix burst out and immediately spotted her opponent. "Vul!" she said, tails splaying out as she prepared for battle. She instantly looked several times bigger.  
  
"Juniper, Quick Attack and Pound!" Laura said quickly. Mirus remembered the old man's suggestions: confident commands.  
  
"Chilli, dodge, and Ember!" he said firmly.  
  
The treeko ran up to Chilli very fast, leaving her only a second to move out of the way. She blew an Ember at the lizard, but he was too quick. Juniper kicked off Chilli's back and into the air, before diving down again, tail at the ready.  
  
The second Ember had a little more effect; it hit Juniper's tail in a rush of splayed-out flames and forced him to abandon the attack, falling expertly to the ground. The two pokemon started to move in a wide circle, keeping at opposite ends. One of Chilli's tails twitched.  
  
"Quick Attack!" Mirus had no hesitation- Juniper was fast.  
  
"Juniper, you too!" Laura said, as Chilli charged.  
  
This time the treeko was the one who could not move fast enough- Chilli's shoulder slammed into his chest with incredible speed, sending him reeling backwards. This made him angry, and he jumped back to her with a hefty kick.  
  
"Rage again!" Laura said.  
  
Only then did Mirus notice that Laura had been calling attacks this whole time; he had been too absorbed in the battle. He briefly wondered whether he had been doing the same. But then he started to shout his own commands to his pokemon.  
  
"Chilli, dodge and Ember from behind!"  
  
This time the treeko's punches and kicks landed him flying as Chilli ducked and rolled over to get away. She leapt up to avoid another attack and, while still in the air, landed a direct Ember in Juniper's face as he ran towards her. Chilli landed harshly on the ground, but forced herself to get up. Juniper was still up, but trying to shake off the pain from his eyes.  
  
"Again, Chilli," Mirus said. She nodded enthusiastically and ran towards her opponent, slamming herself into him and blowing flames. Juniper staggered backwards and fell over into the dust.  
  
"Return, Juniper," Laura sighed, letting the soft red light enshrine him as he was called back.  
  
"You did it Chilli! You won!" Mirus shouted, as the small fox leapt into his arms and licked his face furiously. He laughed, and pressed the button on her empty pokeball.  
  
Laura couldn't say anything, because Lucia and Heron's battle had taken another turn. Five Eevee evolutions faced Heron's Onix and Ekans as the two regarded each other furiously.  
  
"You cheated!" Lucia was shouting.  
  
"Oh, and six against two isn't cheating?" Heron snapped back.  
  
Mirus looked over the evolutions. The espeon was not among them; Onix must have defeated it. He counted an umbreon, a vaporeon, a jolteon, a feraleon... Lucia was shouting again.  
  
"Monica, Cassy, Zak, Andy, Blister, get them!"  
  
"Stop it, Lucia," Laura said, walking up to her. "You're being an idiot."  
  
"I'm not! Don't interrupt."  
  
"Heron, call back your pokemon," Mirus said.  
  
"No way!" Heron was shocked. "I can beat them." She raised her voice to Lucia. "Face it. I won."  
  
Lucia said something else, but Laura turned on her and she sulkily called back all her pokemon, mid-attack. Heron looked triumphant.  
  
"Well, we'll see you sometime," Laura said, as she and Lucia started to walk back to the city- Rigol, said the arch on this side. "Oh, wait." she fumbled in her pockets and brought out a few notes. "That's for a good battle." She nudged Lucia with her elbow, who grudgingly pulled out some money too.  
  
"Well, thanks," Mirus said. Heron smiled happily at Lucia, who scowled.  
  
By that time, Laura and Lucia had already turned around and left. Heron grinned at Mirus. "Well, that was fun. Come on, let's see how many other winning streaks I can break."

* * *

By the time Mirus's watch read five, Heron had beaten six trainers and Mirus had won against four, and lost two. All the trainers they had encountered traveled in pairs, which Mirus found confusing but very convenient when they wanted a battle each.  
  
By this time it was still light, being late summer, but Heron and Mirus both felt extremely tired and thought that they should have a rest. Plainstown was nowhere in sight, but they had walked for hours. Mirus was sure they were on the right path- he had consulted his pokedex to check- but they had not seen so much as a building since Rigol disappeared over the horizon. The ground had been flat with a few copses here and there, and they had run into a few pokemon, but none of them dog or snake.  
  
Heron picked out a spot to rest, under the shade of what appeared to be yet another copse of trees. She reached into her bag and took out a few packets of pokemon food. "Here," she said, tossing one to Mirus.  
  
He thanked her and tore it open. It was a big packet, so he poured two even heaps on a ledge of rock, and let out Grim and Chilli. He had used up almost all his potions healing them, and they were lively and excited when they saw the food. Mirus, however, leaned back and closed his eyes for some sleep.  
  
He was awoken by something licking his hand. He shook it furiously, but whatever it was, it continued to lick.  
  
"Get off, Chilli," Mirus murmured, trying to roll over.  
  
The owner of the tongue sounded upset, and a livewire voice made Mirus practically jump out of his skin. "Elek."  
  
He opened his eyes quickly and sat up. A small green creature was licking tiny bits of pokemon food off Mirus's hand. It merely looked up, revealing yellow streaks across its head, and went back to licking.  
  
With his free hand, Mirus flipped open and switched on his pokedex, pointing the receiving end at the pokemon. An electronic voice- quite similar to the pokemon's- started to talk. Mirus had heard it before, but the green thing was frightened and looked up at it.  
  
"Electrike, number 78, electric. The lightning pokemon. Dog type- acceptable.  
  
"Electrike stores electricity in its long body hair. This pokemon stimulates its leg muscles with electric charges. These jolts of power give its legs explosive acceleration performance. The friction from running is converted into electricity, which is then stored in this pokemon's fur."  
  
Mirus desperatly wanted to catch this pokemon, and he looked around for Grim and Chilli. Both lay several feet away, sleeping, though Grim's ear twitched as Mirus looked at him. Heron and her pokemon had gone. Her backpack was still there, and Mirus edged carefully away from the electrike to read it.  
  
It said, "Gone snake hunting. Sweet dreams! Heron."  
  
Mirus carefully moved back towards the electrike. It was sniffing along the ground for crumbs. Mirus reached into his back for the used food packet and scraped out some remaining chunks with his fingers. The electrike smelt the food and bounded forward, unafraid, before licking and chewing the food off Mirus's fingers. He could feel its sharp teeth press against his skin as it ate, and he waited patiently for it to finish.  
  
When it had, the pokemon sat back and looked up at Mirus. "Sorry," he told it. "That's all I've got."  
  
In answer, the dog barked in its electric way and walked over to Mirus, where it sat down again, barely inches from him. And to his surprise, its face curled into a large, soppy grin and its tail started to wag. "Lectrike," it said, "trike elec."  
  
"You want a battle?" Mirus said. He wasn't sure how he got this answer, but the electrike's fur was sparking with static electricity after its meal. He thought this was a fair suggestion, and tapped Grim on the shoulder until the dog woke up suddenly.  
  
"I need you for a battle," Mirus explained.  
  
At once the dog became alert, tail held high as he crouched low, facing the electrike. In return the pokemon started sparking electricity all over and growled in the same robotic way.  
  
"Sand Attack, Grim," Mirus said.  
  
Grim turned his back on his opponent and, lightning-fat, scraped out pawfuls of thin soil at the elecrike. The pokemon turned back as the attack hit it in its face and eyes, before charging at Grim full-on in a Tackle attack.  
  
"Grim, Tackle it back!"  
  
Claws clashed and bodies tumbled as the two pokemon pounced on each other and attacked tooth and claw. Sparks rippled along both dogs until Grim broke off, howling, yellow and blue shining over his fur. His muscles tensed up and his howl broke off quickly. Every move seemed to cause him pain.  
  
Mirus dived into his bag and pulled out a Paralyze Heal- obviously the electrike's Static had paralyzed Grim. With one spray the sparks flowed into the ground and Grim could move again. But he kept his distance from the opponent, weary of what had happened before.  
  
The electrike sensed his nervousness, and jumped forward quickly, trying to attack him again. Grim jumped back every time, trying to avoid the Tackles and Quick Attacks.  
  
"Grim, you can do it! If you work fast enough, you won't get paralyzed! Use a Quick Attack and pull out fast!"  
  
The confidence in his trainer's voice was too strong to ignore. Grim stopped dodging and ran straight into the electrike as hard as he could, before pushing off its side and jumping away. The few sparks fizzled and died, and the electrike was left tired out from the attack.  
  
"Again, Grim!"  
  
Grim dived at the opponent time and time again, ignoring the sparks that were collecting onto his body now. The electrike tried to fight back against Grim's willpower, but he dodged the paralyzing sparks and weakening Tackles more than was enough to do damage. To Mirus's relief somewhat, Grim hit with an overpowering Tackle attack and the electrike lay unconscious.  
  
Another rummage in his bag, and Mirus pulled out a spare pokeball. He maximized it, pressed the button and threw it in one motion, and watching the pokemon surrender to the sphere.

* * *

E/N: This was mainly just a chapter to get Heron and Mirus almost to Plainstown, though I wanted Mirus to catch another pokemon. The two trainers at the beginning were for battle description (I just like describing battles) and for Heron to lose her temper.  
  
Also, some of you may know my eeveelutions... Feraleon- grass; Sabereon- rock/ground; Shepeon- fighting; Bileon- poison; Pharaimeon- flying; Exeon- bug; Polareon- ice; Mysteon- dragon. If you're _dying_ to know more about these, or want to see pictures, feel free to email me.  
  
Thank you for reading, and thank you for any reviews you might submit... 


	10. Nightmare in the woods

Mirus was registering his new pokemon on his pokedex when Heron arrived, brushing her short hair out of her eyes.  
  
"It sucked," she said, seeing Mirus awake. "I didn't see a single snake pokemon except for another ekans, and even that belonged to a trainer." She spotted the pokeball in Mirus's hand that he was registering. "Did one of your pokemon evolve or something?"  
  
"No," Mirus replied. He pressed the button on the ball, and the electrike burst out.  
  
"How come I go for an hour's walk and find nothing, and you stay here and find a dog?" she asked, shaking her head.  
  
"Don't know. He was attracted by the food I'd used, and wanted a battle."  
  
Heron sighed. "What're you going to call him?"  
  
"Jazz," Mirus said straight away.  
  
"Cool name." Heron sat down. "Anyway, it's getting late. Should we move on or stay here for the night?"  
  
"Move on," Mirus said. "We might be able to see Plainstown."  
  
They gathered up their bags and found the path that led through the trees- it was a wood this time, not just a copse, said Heron. After some thoughts, arguments and rock-paper-scissors games, Mirus climbed a tree that looked taller than the rest.  
  
"What d'you see?" Heron shouted up at him.  
  
"Nothing yet," he yelled back, still trying to edge his way up the tree. Finally he burst through the final canopy of leaves, leaves falling in a tornado around his head. He shifted his foot to a higher branch, and looked around.  
  
He could see, to his surprise, quite a bit. Down through the leaves there were Grim and Chilli playing, and Jazz looking at them shyly, Heron looking up at him- he waved, but she didn't appear to see- and ahead, after an ocean of trees, a lump quite far ahead that might or might not be houses.  
  
"I see something that could be Plainstown!" he yelled, sending a flock of taillow fluttering out of a nearby tree in alarm.  
  
"What?" Heron shouted back.  
  
"I'm coming down!" he yelled again, taking his foot of its branch to find the one lower down.  
  
Of course, being Mirus, he found the branch wasn't there, and tripped, falling backwards. Only his hands, reaching out blindly and fastening onto another branch, saved him from falling to his death; or at least getting a nasty bruise.  
  
He noticed something a bit strange about the branch he was holding. It was greenish and soft and bumpy in some places. His fingers probed the softness, and looking up, he saw a pokemon curled around the branch, hissing at him.  
  
In fright, Mirus let go, but the pokemon uncurled itself and jumped after him. Luckily the boy found himself hooked over a branch, but the pokemon fell all the way to the ground, and hissed again, looking around.  
  
"It's a snake!" Heron said, sounding positively delighted. "Thanks, Mirus!"  
  
"You're welcome," he moaned, winded slightly, having landed straight on his stomach after falling about six feet. "A little help?"  
  
However, Heron was more interested in the snake pokemon, which was now glaring at her. It was pale green and had a fan of leaves near the end of its tail, as well as a large mouth with dozens of tiny fangs. Marks that looked like blotches were patterned on its underbelly.  
  
From his high viewing point, Mirus heard the bleep and information of Heron's pokedex, and he had a good battle view, even if he had a bruise the size of a Wailord on his stomach.  
  
_"Vineslice, number 194, grass. The vine pokemon. Snake type- acceptable.  
  
"Vineslice spends its days curled around tree branches, looking like some sort of plant- or vine. If disturbed it can fly into a rage and attack anything in its path. The leaves on its tail can release a variety of spores and powders- never approach a vineslice from behind."  
_  
"Good," Heron said, putting her pokedex away. "Ekans, go! use Poison Sting!"  
  
Ekans emerged and sensed the battle at one, letting loose a barrage of needles from his mouth. The vineslice flicked its tail left and right as it writhed around extremely quickly, then finally straight at Ekans, knocking it backwards.  
  
"Whiplash," Heron muttered. "I forgot. Ekans, use Wrap and Poison Sting when it stops!"  
  
The vineslice, however, did not seem to be stopping. It squirmed backwards, before crashing into Ekans again. Ekans, thoughoughly annoyed, went for it, and the Wrap Attack seemed to do nothing, but finally the vineslice stopped, and shook its head, as though dizzy.  
  
Heron took her chance; "Now, Poison Sting!" and Ekans opened his mouth again and send out the familiar glowing needles. The vineslice was struck full on, and reared backwards in anger.  
  
Heron was triumphant, but the vineslice was back in an instant, its tail held up and the leaves shaking softly. Mirus stared at it, worried, as a soft powder started to flow out, the light spores caught by the soft wind. A tiny amount of the powder flowed near Mirus as it spread out to fill the area, and Mirus started to feel tired.  
  
"You're not winning this one," Heron told the vineslice, as Ekans's eyelids began to droop. "Ekans, keep going. Ignore the spores. I want you to use Bite on your tail whenever you feel sleepy. In the meantime, try a Bite on that vineslice. You know you can do it, we've come too far now."  
  
Ekans responded by rearing up, fangs gleaming, before throwing itself forward for them to sink into its scales. Ekans, of course, was immune to his own poison, and the bite only forced him awake, before he slithered forward. The spores were settling on the ground, visible only to someone looking very close.  
  
The vineslice was a little annoyed at how the attack had not worked, so turned back to the offense technique, trying to fend off Ekan's fangs with its own. With a hurried flick of Ekan's tail, his opponent was flung away from him, and coiled itself up on the ground, hissing but very tired from the battle.  
  
This seemed to give Heron an idea. "Ekans, throw sand at the vineslice with your tail!"  
  
Ekans obeyed instantly, taking time between recovering breaths to scoop thin layers of the dusty dry ground, broken by tree roots, straight at the vineslice. Too weak to be a proper Sand Attack, but Heron was only interested in the tiny spores that had settled there.  
  
With no way to avoid its own attack, the vineslice started to feel the effect of the Sleep Powder, and started to give in to the overwhelming tiredness that perused it. And before its head touched the ground, Heron already had a fresh pokeball in her hand, and threw it.  
  
She ran forwards to Ekans as the ball locked, embracing him lovingly. "You did it!" she said. "You're amazing- thank you!"  
  
Ekans closed his eyes and nodded dreamily. Heron understood and called him back, before clipping her new pokemon's ball to her belt with the other two. "Did you see that, Mirus?" she called up. "That's how it should be done. It was really tough, but we did it!"  
  
"Brilliant," Mirus yelled back.  
  
"I'm so proud," Heron said, smiling broadly.  
  
"And I'm really happy for you, but I think I'm stuck."

* * *

It was already dark and actually a bit cold when the duo had reached what could possibly be called the centre of the woods. The trees were blocking out what was left of the light, but it was too dark to keep going. Mirus sent out Jazz, for the sparks that crawled over his fur emited a dim light, and they searched quickly for a place to camp.  
  
Heron found a place that was hidden from the view of the path by several bushes, to keep off the wind, but it was near enough for them not to get lost. After some more arguments, Heron set up her sleeping bag right behind the bushes, and Mirus unrolled his a little to the left. Jazz, seeing a bed set up, immediately jumped on it, and it took some more laughing and fighting for Mirus to get in himself.  
  
He recalled the electrike and took off his pokeball belt, onto which he placed Jazz's pokeball. Everything was black, so he placed the belt in what he hoped was easy reach. Though I won't be able to see anything, he thought.  
  
"'Night, Heron," he said.  
  
But she was already asleep, and he got no reply.

* * *

It was still dark when Mirus awoke, the blackness pressing into his eyes like water. At first he wondered what had woken him, but them his ears finally registered the sound of someone screaming. Horrified and frightened, Mirus threw Jazz's pokeball for some light. The screaming was coming from near here.  
  
The electrike's Static shone rays in a slow circle, and Mirus saw the screaming was coming from Heron herself, eyes closed and lying down, but the wailing, continuous noise was coming from her open mouth as she yelled. It sounded less eerie than on the ferry, but it was definatly the same.  
  
Quickly, Mirus climbed out of his sleeping bag, crawled over to Heron's, and shook her awake. The noice stopped at once as she opened her eyes, confused.  
  
"What?" she asked in a hoarse voice.  
  
"You were screaming," he told her, "in your sleep. Are you alright? Did you have a nightmare?"  
  
"I'm- I'm OK," she said. "Just a bad dream. That's all."  
  
"What was it about?" he asked her. At this time in the night she was like a pale ghost, quiet and not at all like the girl he knew.  
  
"My dad's looking for me," she said, and looked up at him, though her eyes were unfocused. "He doesn't know, does he? I'm sorry, Mirus."  
  
Mirus had no idea why she was apologizing, but nodded. "It's alright."  
  
Her face was pale, and she was shaking slightly as she spoke, as though she were cold. Jazz growled at her disturbance, but she ignored him, and instead turned over and went back to sleep.

* * *

In the morning, Mirus was awoken by someone shaking him. He moaned and tried to roll over, resulting in him getting tangled up in his sleeping bag. Someone laughed. "Get up, Mirus. Do you want to leave or not?"  
  
He reluctantly opened his eyes to see Heron standing over him, grinning and no longer pale.  
  
"Are you alright?" he asked her.  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Come on, it's not that early."  
  
"No, I mean do you feel better?"  
  
"From when?" She looked at him. There was a pause. _Is she lying? _Mirus wondered. "Nah, never mind," he finally said. "I just thought something, that's all."  
  
She shrugged and moved away to roll up her sleeping bag. Mirus crawled out of his. He'd slept in his clothes because he thought he would be too cold otherwise, so only had to put his trainers on.  
  
Heron was ripping open her last packets of pokemon food. She threw another packet to Mirus, and he struggled with it until it burst open, in that annoying way foil packets do. He sent out Grim, Chilli and Jazz, who all seemed very sleepy, but brightened up at the sight of the food. Near Heron; Ekans, Onix and her new vineslice were eating too. The newcomer seemed uncomfortable in the presence of the other two snakes, especially Onix, whose massive body and tail trailed out into the path and flattened a few bushes in the process.  
  
Finally, after what Heron complained seemed like an age, everything and everyone was set and ready to go, pokemon recalled and lost items hunted for and recovered. The sunlight had filtered through the trees, sending waves of dappled green light washing over everything, giving it a moss-covered feel. The warmth and stickiness were starting to come back, and Mirus was wishing he'd brought some water.  
  
It was easy to see where pokemon lived here; a pokemon's hole was biting into the earth on a bank choked full of roots; a nest that squawks issued from clung to a tree branch some way ahead; rustling from bushes came from everywhere around them. For most of the journey, neither Heron nor Mirus said a word, but just admired everything they saw.  
  
Suddenly, the trees and shrubbery ended, leaving the dusty path to continue winding out onto plains. And, following a completely straight road with a few trees framing various parts of the route, was a fortress of houses that looked decidedly promising. Mirus sighed at the heat hit them full blast.  
  
They stepped out of the forest- Heron remaining unfazed by the climate- away from the desperate, straggling undergrowth snaking away from the trees, that shakily marked the beginning of grassland.  
  
And the beginning of what could be victory.

* * *

WHAT? I hear you say. After all this time, BTM has actually been updated? Well, I'm glad you care, and my answer is yes, of course. Or would you be reading this? Anyway, I am sorry about the wait- our computers are being rewired and stuff, and the internet is all over the place.  
  
Oh, and Vineslice belongs to me. I'm going to put some pictures up in my bio soon, so if you want to have a look, you may do so :o)  
  
Well, now I've just given you a (nice) long(ish) chapter to read. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you didn't, leave a review. If you did enjoy it... well, leave a review also. Or else I'll have you know that the "real" Jazz is level 100 and knows a nice mixture of very painful attacks. As does the real Juniper, Grim and Chilli. And more wonderful characters who you might meet later.  
  
Heh heh. 


	11. Word on the street

Disclaimers: I own ALL THIS! (spreads arms out wide) Even pokemon. No, I'm joking. Of course I don't, otherwise Ash would have a beard and Max would be called Pumple. Why? I've got no idea. Who are you laughing at, anyway? Haven't you got a chapter to read?

* * *

Plainstown was a crowded place. Possibly not as crowded as Rigol, nor as big, but enough for there to be pokemon and people everywhere, coming out of shops, laughing and joking, even having battles, others crowded around.  
  
"See those?" Heron was saying, getting excited. They had just healed their pokemon at the centre, and now Heron was showing signs of being the expert. "Those are street leagues. You get them in loads of villages, towns and cities."  
  
"How many villages and towns are there? Only five, right?" Mirus asked her. "And what are street leagues?"  
  
"Oh, there aren't that many villages I guess," Heron was saying, still gazing at the nearest crowd of people, from which battle-cries where emerging. "More than five. Lots are quite far away from the Trainer routes, though. As for street leagues, come on, I'll show you!"  
  
Mirus let himself be dragged to the group, where Heron pushed them through to the front, ignoring exclamations and shouts of annoyance. Once there, he could see two trainers battling, with a persian and a spearow. The bird seemed to be weakened, and one final pounce from the persian knocked it unconscious. Everyone cheered, except the girl who called the spearow back to its pokeball.  
  
"I guess you really are the best, Mike," she said.  
  
The persian's trainer didn't seem to hear, he just gave his pokemon a scratch behind the ear. "Any one else want to battle me?" he asked.  
  
Murmurs were exchanged. Mirus sensed what was about to happen before it did; and he was right. Heron pushed further forward. "I'll give you a quick one-on-one," she said.  
  
"Are you from around here?" Mike asked her casually, as he recalled his persian.  
  
"Sort of. I know where I stand," she replied. "Are you the Plainstown champion or something?"  
  
He grinned. "I wish. Well, since I'm not all that tough, I don't have to go easy on you then." He laughed and threw a pokeball. "You won't be too hard on me, will you?"  
  
"Fat chance," Heron muttered, watching a sneasel emerge from the pokeball. She selected one of her own, imitating the boy's casual style by taking her time.  
  
Mirus guessed that Heron would choose Onix, as it was strong against ice types, but instead it was Ekans who reared up, baring his fangs.  
  
"A snake trainer, eh? Well, Frost; use Ice Beam."  
  
"Ekans, dodge it. Get close enough for a Wrap."  
  
Heron was calm; much calmer than when she'd watched the battles. She was probably just really into the battle, Mirus though, like he was, on the ferry.  
  
Ekans expertly coiled aside as Frost's attack crashed into the concrete pavement, disintegrating away and leaving nothing but an appropriate layer of thin, fingered ice.  
  
The sneasel, however, did not let itself be attacked. It leapt backwards with amazing speed, dodging every flick of Ekans's tail.  
  
"Now, Fury Swipes!"  
  
"Poison Sting!"  
  
Frost got in there first, dashing forward, claws slashing. One slice found its mark and left a pale mark on Ekans's side; scarlet beads welled up before the whole injury was running with blood. The snake ignored it, and sent a volley of needles out of its mouth, which Frost avoided by jumping and leaping backwards.  
  
Mirus watched intently, oblivious to the cries and cheers around him. He watched Heron's face; evidently this was a lot tougher than she had imagined. But she refused to lose her cool attitude, quickly calling attacks as Ekans's deep wound left curved red marks on the ground. He seemed as stubborn as his trainer, ignoring whatever pain he must be feeling.  
  
"Another Fury Swipes," Mike said simply.  
  
Ekans was dodging again; Mirus realised that the whole phrase was repeating itself, but with one difference- Heron was not attacking back.  
  
"Come on Ekans!" she finally said. "Give it a Leer!"  
  
Frost recoiled at the strength of its opponent's gaze, and stopped attacking. Its face went temporarily blank, and Mirus knew that all it could see now were those eyes, and they were making it nervous.  
  
"All right, Poison Sting!"  
  
Ekans's first full-on attack sent needles spraying into Frost's body, as it fell. When its eyes opened again, there was no confusion, just a battle-engrossed look.  
  
"Get back in there," Mike said.  
  
Frost obliged quickly, sprinting forward with more agility than ever. There was not that far to run, this being only a small battlefield, but after its short sprint the same scythes were scraping for a chance to win. Frost was tiring now, Mirus noticed, but it wasn't going to be an easy win. Perhaps Heron could pull through...  
  
Ekans, instead of moving back, coughed out a thick liquid, sending streaks of it splattering across Frost and the pavement. For a few moments, Mirus was sure that Ekans was spitting blood- then he realised that it was a new attack.  
  
Heron was thrilled. "Acid again, Ekans!" she said. The attack was better aimed this time, a lump of sludge spat right into the sneasel's face. It recoiled, screeching. Mirus slammed his hands over his ears, and shut his eyes, wondering if the trainer had called for the attack. He distantly heard; "Now Fury Swipes!" before the sound ended.  
  
Opening his eyes, Mirus noticed that the battle was over; Frost was lying spread-eagle on its stomach. But a few feet away, Ekans was coiled up too, as if sleeping, though Mirus knew that wasn't the case.  
  
Heron and Mike recalled their pokemon, and started talking. Mirus couldn't hear what they said; maybe that Screech had damaged his ears? He noticed many other people were also rubbing their heads and ears.  
  
Heron walked up to him as they started to leave. "It was a tie," she announced, and Mirus dimly noticed that he could hear her, after all. "That means I could stay in the street league if I wanted to, but I think we have more important things to do. Unless you want to stay?"  
  
"What? No, thanks," Mirus said, startled.  
  
"Why not? You know, Mirus, you need to stand up for yourself more. Don't let me push you around. I'm going to regret saying this later, but you're too soft, and you mostly do what I say. Not that I'm complaining..." she laughed softly.  
  
Mirus was a little shocked. "Sorry."  
  
She laughed again. "Don't be- I'm trying to be nice to you." She looked at him and stopped walking. "You could enter the street league, you know. You'd be great."  
  
He stopped walking too. "What? No thanks."  
  
"Stand up for yourself, Mirus!"  
  
"I am! I just don't want to enter, OK, so stop making me!" He started laughing. "Anyway, I know I'm not the expert, but why didn't you use Onix in that battle? He could have won easily."  
  
They started walking again as Heron delighted in explaining. "Street leagues have a height limit, you know, being on the street with all those people close by. Anyway, an Ice Beam from that Frosty thing would have wreaked havoc- you know, he's half ground."  
  
Mirus nodded. "So what's the league part?"  
  
"It's kinda weird, I suppose. Each town or city or whatever has its own mini league. There's the champion of the town, and people just try to get the champion spot, it gives them more respect. Often a gym leader is the champion, but if it's not, the leader can try and get that spot. If they loose, though, there's the badge thing. Street leagues aren't official, but the gym leaders still have to give a badge to anyone who beats them- it's the Tyoke League rules."  
  
"So you could beat the gym leader that way?"  
  
"Naturally, yes. But if you beat a gym leader in a gym battle, and they're the head of the street league, you don't automatically become street champion. It has to be a street battle. There's a ranking system for most of these- you can find them on websites, lists of all the leagues and positions. People battle when they feel like it, so if there's someone in the league you want to battle, you can either wait for them or turn up on their doorstep.  
  
"There's a time limit for not battling though, to make sure you don't turn down too many battles- everyone has a right to challenge the champion. It's not very organized; but the ranking system's a bit complicated. You get all these so-called tough guys who are close together in ranking fighting it out."  
  
By this time they had reached the pokemon centre, and both trainers entered through the glass doors, conversation ended. Heron put her pokemon up for healing, and Mirus waited, watching tropical fish swim about in a huge glass tank near the desk.  
  
Maybe he could try entering one of these street leagues. But he decided he preferred the simple league path, battling gym leaders and following the other trainers like mareep.

* * *

The gym was modern and metallic, with a pair of shiny metal doors set firmly into the wall. But wear was beginning to show through, although it looked like the building was cleaned regularly, there was a bit of perniment marker graffiti.  
  
Mirus felt for the handle in the door and pushed. The handle was shaped like an eye with a raticate tail curled around it. Beneath it was a stretch of black scrawled writing: _"Will you make your own choices or let your conscience take you down the good-boy road?"  
_  
Inside the first room it was cool and dark. Mirus could hear Heron slapping the walls, and finally a light overhead flickered on. Music started playing from speakers on the ceiling, and the two trainers appeared to be in a passageway. Shrugging at Heron, Mirus followed it.  
  
Everything was too shiny, he decided. The floor was polished, the walls were painted a metallic colour, and the whole place stank of hospital. Eventually, though, they came to a set of double doors with a button and label sunk into the wall: IF RED LIGHT IS NOT FLASHING, PRESS BUTTON BEFORE ENTERING. The red light was flashing, so he sat down next to Heron and breathed in the disinfectant vapor, wondering how anybody could bear to live in this place. His eyes were stinging.  
  
Suddenly, Mirus thought he heard something, like a rustling or scraping. But he looked around, and there was only Heron sitting next to him, eyes closed. She probably found the cleanliness as hard to bear than he did.  
  
He was about to get up and investigate when there was a bleeping sound, and the button stopped flashing red, and lit up green. Heron immediately brushed her hair out of her eyes, stood up, smiled, and pressed the button.  
  
"You ready?" she asked, pushing open the double doors.  
  
Before Mirus could answer, he found a gaping entrance in front of him, and followed Heron into a room that thankfully did not smell of hospital.

* * *

**E/N:** I think this chapter's a little shorter, but I wanted to save the lovely gym battling for the next chapter. Either that or face a massive long rambling thingy. Mwhahaha! By the way, does anyone read the battles or just sometimes skim through them? Go on, admit it! I do it sometimes, when I'm pressed for Internet time. If you do, tell me! I'm just interested to know; I won't stop with the battle detail- mwhahaha!  
  
O-kays. Well Lunar Sphinx asked a very interesting and logical question (logical compared to my constant E/N's, anyway) so I will do my best to answer. She asked about Juniper. All you die-hard BTM fans (And I am thrilled and surprised if you are one) might know that in the last chapter, Laura's treeko was called Juniper. It's a type of herb, and if you don't believe me, ask a gardener. Or David Dickenson, I don't mind. Mirus WILL get a grass type-dog (And I've got one in mind- an invention, yes) but it hasn't got a nickname, for Mirus's collection of amazing nicknames. Any grass type-ish names suggested will do, and I'll pick one. Maybe... 

Last thing(ish): Mike's a cat trainer. in my eyes, sneasel is a cat. Ha. Oh, and Lucia was an eon trainer. That includes all the eevee evos. legendaries are Latis.  
  
So, if you are planning to leave a review (which you will, won't you? Or else I might ramble on some more) please state:  
  
1) Do you skim through battles sometimes?  
2) Do you prefer rambling long chapters to nice, sizeable chunks like this?  
3) Got any ideas for a grass-type dog's nickname? Just grass-type names, universal, you know.  
4) What did you think of this chapter? Did you like it? Huh? Did ya?  
5) Should I stop making such long and usually hyper Emerald Notes at the end of every chapter? (Cause I won't!)  
  
Muchos gracias; Merci boucoup; Cheers mate.


	12. The perfect battle

This arena smelt musty, a welcome relief from the previous stench. It smelt like pokemon and fur, like a well battled-in arena should smell. Heron didn't seem to notice, she was squinting around for the leader. Bright lights shone down on them from strips near the ceiling. There were no windows, and the musty smell now reminded Mirus of cages at the zoo.  
  
"Welcome. More challengers so soon?" asked a voice. Looking up, they saw a girl, not much older than them, standing in the opponent's trainer box. She had long, glossy black hair that hung past her elbows, and bright blue eyes. She smiled as she said her short speech, revealing two rows of white, even teeth. Mirus rather thought she looked too perfect.  
  
"Yes. We're here for a badge," Heron said. She was fingering the three pokeballs on her belt as she spoke, as though she was itching to begin. Mirus could see this, so he said, "You go first if you want."  
  
Heron smiled at him for thanks, and moved foward into her trainer box. "My name is Lydia, and you'll be fighting me for the Whisker badge," the leader said. "Just one pokemon each. Tyoke official rules say that you choose first."  
  
She was so calm, so perfect. Mirus instently disliked her, though he had no idea why. Heron's fustration was more visible; he could see her fingers curling into fists. But instead of doing anything dramatic, they uncoiled and reached for a pokeball. Mirus could almost hear her thinking over her pokemon choice. Finally her vineslice appeared out of her chosen pokeball. Mirus was surprised. She had introduced herself to this pokemon already, but they had never battled. Was this a good idea?  
  
Apparently so, for Lydia placed the pokeball she had in her hand back on a special stand in front of her, and selected another, taking her time. Finally she threw it, without saying anything, and an umbreon emerged.  
  
While the pokemon eyed each other up, Mirus, interested, reached for his pokedex. Umbreons were Mirus's favourite eeveelution, he had no idea why, but he had never actually seen one in the flesh. The pokedex bleeped happily, having found the pokemon's data.  
  
"Umbreon, number 267, dark. The moonlight pokemon. Rodent type.  
  
"Umbreon are more active at night, but in the wild, prefer to travel alone. If an umbreon steps into the territory of another of the same gender, it will either back off or fight to have that territory for itself. When umbreons are resting or sleeping, their rings will shine a deep gold, like eyes, to keep any predators away."  
  
"Vineslice, Vine whip!" Heron shouted.  
  
"Umbreon.Faint attack."  
  
Vineslice held her tail curled over her head, and lashed it about. Two whips spun out from it, aimed towards the umbreon, but the black in it faded, leaving only the yellow rings, which the vines went straight through.  
  
Confused, Vineslice moved closer to the non-moving rings, but an umbreon figure slammed into her from behind, the rabbit reappearing as the illusion rings faded.  
  
"Vineslice, Whiplash!" Heron said desperatly.  
  
Vineslice seemed to snap back into the battle, her tail lashing wildly. But Lydia called an order for another Faint Attack, and the same destraction rings were left, Vineslice's tail passing right through.  
  
This time, Heron was ready. "Stun Spore!" she shouted. "Everywhere!"  
  
Vineslice turned, moving her tail around fast, sending out a stream of Stun Spore. Umbreon reappeared, stiffened to the spot, mucules twitching as it watched its opponent with those blood-red eyes.  
  
"Now, Razor Leaf and Whiplash!"  
  
Vineslice paused, possibly confused at this unusual command, before obeying. She slithered up to the immobile umbreon, and released Razor Leaves while doing so. They bit into its fur, while Vineslice moved closer to finish it off.  
  
It was Mirus who noticed the umbreon's foreleg twicth as Vineslice approach, and it was not twitching due to paralysis. "Watch out!" he warned.  
  
Sure enough, The umbreon sprang out of the way at the last second, and at an order of "Bite," it sunk its sharp teeth into Vinslice's back.  
  
Heron was smiling, Mirus had no idea why. "Vineslice, just use another Whiplash and Razor Leaf it after," she said.  
  
One strong flick of the snake's tail and Umbreon was hurtled into the air, with a gust of leaves to catch it. Before it even hit the ground, Mirus knew who had won.  
  
Lydia called back her immobile pokemon, with no change of expression. She jerked her head sideways irritably, which did not fit her calm behavior, signalling for Heron to move off.  
  
Smug and grinning, Heron recalled her Vineslice and moved to the bench where Mirus had sat himself. "I would say' good luck', but that's usually considered bad luck," she told him as he took his place in the trainer's box.  
  
Mirus was shakinga bit, before quickly telling himself to calm down. Heron was a natural at battling, he was sure that in comparison to her, his skills would fade. Or what if he lost? Mirus bit the inside of his cheek so that nobody could see, and chose his pokemon, praying that he'd made the right desision.  
  
Grim barked happily, pleased to have made an entrance. Lydria rasied an eyebrow, actually looking amused at this playful pokemon, and Mirus felt she was deliberatly going to choose one of her toughest.  
  
"Sandslash," she said as an introduction. Mirus did not bother to reach for his pokedex, he'd encountered this pokemon a few times, and it always looked just as menecing, claws stretched out as if they wanted to rip something apart.  
  
"Don't mess around. Use an Earthquake."  
  
"Grim, Quick Attack."  
  
Grim moved first, but before he could even reach his opponent, the sandslash leapt into the air, slamming its hind legs hard into the floor. Mirus could feel the floor shaking, which was probably nothing compared to what Grim was going through.  
  
"Sandslash, Fury Swipes," Lydia said, as Grim shakily stood up and shook himself.  
  
Mirus quickly noticed something. Sandslash was not that fast, being unable to run on all fours with those claws. In comparison, Grim was like an annoying fly- small and light- and he could use that to their advantidge.  
  
"Grim, Quick Attack again. Get onto Sandslash's back."  
  
The poochyena seemed to read Mirus's mind, and cleverly dodged the mouse's flailing arms, sprinting behind it. Sandslash turned, confused, but could not avoid the dog as he took a leap, landing on the pokemon's back and beginning to claw his way up the spines.  
  
"Grim, Bite!" Mirus said. If they could keep this up...  
  
Grim sank his teeth into his opponent's head, and the rodent let out a screech of fury, shaking its head from side to side in a vain attempt to get Grim off.  
  
Lydia's thin mouth curled into a smile. "Sandslash, Rollout," she said.  
  
before Mirus could shout anything, the sandslash dived forward, curling up, and started to roll around the arena. Mirus looked on as Grim was thrown from the bundle of spikes, and the Rollout turned to run over him.  
  
"Jump out the way, Grim!" Mirus shouted, but wherever Grim ran to, the rolling ball was always behind him. Mirus tried desperatly to think, but before he could shout an order, the Sandslash finally caught up with the dog, throwing him high into the air.  
  
Both pokemon were exusted, each keeping their eyes on the other, waiting for their trainers to shout a command. Mirus waited. If Lydia attacked first, he could probably counter-attack. So he kept silent, and if Sandslash did not move either, he could probably rest a bit. Better not relax too much, though, because Lydia could attack any--  
  
"Sandslash, Slash."  
  
The sandslash leapt up, claws slicing through the air.  
  
"Grim, Quick Attack, and Growl!" Mirus shouted the first attacks that came into his head. Confident, he reminded himself.  
  
Grim dodged the claws, and stationed himself a few feet away from his opponent, a low growl isuing from his throat. The sandslash gave a shiver, and Mirus knew the attack had worked.  
  
"Keep that attack going, Grim," he told him, "until I say stop."  
  
"Sandslash, you can win this one. Earthquake."  
  
Grim's growl turned into a yelp as the sandslash jumped high in the air, but he trusted Mirus, and so kept going, keeping his eyes shut but the growl going.  
  
The sandslash's hind legs hit the ground, but the force in it had weakened; Grim mamaged to keep his ground, with his attack still going. Mirus thought he sounded rather like a lawnmover.  
  
"Great, Grim. Howl, and then Quick Attack one more time!"  
  
The low growl suddenly split into a broken wailing sound, and Grim launched forward as his battle-cry ended. The tired sandslash had no time to dodge, and was hit full on by Grim's attack. Mirus thought it was rather a large attack for such a small pokemon, for the rodent flew back and lay there.  
  
Lydia gave an auditable sigh and held out sandslash's pokeball, letting the red light take him back. She sighed again, and flicked back a lock of her perfect hair.  
  
"Well done," she said, calm as ever. "Please step out of the door to your right; you will find your prizes there."  
  
Heron didn't botehr to keep her voice down as they left, Mirus holding his tired pokemon in his arms. "She couldn't even bother to give them to us herself! Is that laziness or what? Mind you, I suppose it's so we don't get any dust on her perfect hands."  
  
They turned right in the foul-smelling hall, and right by them were two cushions, one black, one blue. Since they matched their pokedex colours, Mirus moved towards the black one, wondering how they had known.  
  
Grim wriggled in his arms and Mirus put him down, where he walked around a little. Mirus turned his attention to his cusion. On it was a badge with an eye and a raticate tail, jut like on the door. Mirus picked it up, and pinned it inside his jacket. Also there was something shaped like a CD, which he recognised as a TM, and a wad of noted. Heron gave a loud exclimation when she saw hers.  
  
"Grim?" Mirus asked, looking around. The dog had vanished. "Where are you?"  
  
"He might have been confused with all those smells," Heron grinned. "Don't worry, he can't have gone far."  
  
Mirus walked to the end of the short corridor, where there was a split. There was a sign saying "Exit", pointing to the right. On the left side was a pair of double doors. Curious, Mirus tiptoed towards them and pushed them open, the smell of hospital stirring up again. To his surprise, Heron was beside him.  
  
"Let's do some exploring," she whispered.  
  
Music still softly playing from the speakers above, the two trainers carefully stepped through the doors, closing them quietly behind them.  
  
_"No matter what I do, you'll never notice, you'll never know..."_ sang the speakers happily. Heron put her hand over her mouth to stop herself giggling.  
  
To their right was an open door. To his relief, Mirus saw a fluffy grey tail coming out of it, and sure enough, it was his pokemon, standing and looking unhappily around him. Mirus bent down and scooped him up, before actually noticing what was going on around them.

* * *

E/N: Dum dum dum! I love stopping at annoying times. Well, I hope they're annoying. That was the point. Oh, and I hate the smell of hospital. Well, I know its to stop infections and stuff, but it really smells... that does have a purpose by the way.  
  
So...? Anything else to say to fill out this space? I randomly feel like saying that you ought ot have your imagination in overdrive when you read this (and the battles, if you do read the battles). You have to see a sandslash's clawed feet crashing into the ground... Er, I'm, blabbing again.  
  
I've read the reviews (as you do), and I'm very happy for them. Thank you! The grand total of 22 (fanfare) Well, correct at time of typing (hint hint). Oh, I know what to say. The nicknames I've recieved so far from Deceptigirl and Keleri are absolutly brilliant, but I'll have to say that my favourite so far is Bark. Why? Because it fits, yet it's completely irrevilent, like Chili, Jazz and Grim. But keep them coming! A lot of time before the 'secret pokemon' makes an appearence...  
  
Oh, and I made up the umbreon data, beacuse I couldn't be bothered to search for the official stuff on the internet :o) And that little part of song, ha ha. And as for the TM's being like CD's... well, that's in FRLG, isn't it? It's not here in Britain yet (cries), but hopefully it will be soon. Yay. Well, you know, the usual. **REVIEW **(please). 


	13. Trapped, but on the run

From floor to ceiling there were cages. Stacks and stacks of cages. Heron gasped as she walked in, seeing pokemon trapped inside. Many were resting; or at least, not moving. Oblivious to Mirus's whispered protests, she walked up to the nearest cage, which contained a raichu.  
  
Mirus, knowing about gadgets and things, tried to stop her. "Dont! It's..."  
  
Too late- Heron slid the bolt open, and a mixture of wailing alarm bells replaced the music. Mirus grabbed Heron's arm as the raichu stumbled out, but that didn't stop her sliding open other locks instead of running away.  
  
"Heron, someone'll be here--"  
  
"You go then," she snapped. "I just can't leave them like this..."  
  
The alarms filled Mirus's ears, and, heart in his mouth, he pulled Heron away and they ran after Grim, sprinting down the corridor. Mirus felt certain they were lost, but he kept on following the frightened dog. The alarm suddenly shut off, leaving a familiar ringing in his ears.  
  
Suddenly they heard voices, and Heron, snapping back, grabbed Mirus's arm and pulled him down a dead-end corridor. A bench was lined up with the wall at right angles to this one, so between the bench's legs Mirus could loook around the wall and see two people talking. One was a man, but he had his back to the trainers. The other was Lydia.  
  
She looked furious, frown lines creasing her perfect face- except that instead of smooth white skin, a quantity of ugly scratches were scattered down her neck and cheeks.  
  
"Those darn rati.." she was saying.  
  
"If those pokemon escaped, then everything will be..."  
  
Their voices dropped to whispers, and Mirus strained his ears desperatly to hear what was being said. He caugh the words "raichu", "faulty" and "clean" among several others. Suddenly they began talking almost normally again.  
  
"...and the cages couldn't have swung open on their own?"  
  
"No, Miss Lydia; I designed them myself."  
  
"Which makes everything perfect, does it?" she snapped.  
  
"No, Miss Lydia. Somebody must have found the room..."  
  
"But thirteen cages opened- you said sixteen pokemon are missing?"  
  
"That's right."  
  
"Loss indeed! So the culprits must be around here somewhere."  
  
"Don't worry. We can frame them for stealing gym pokemon."  
  
Lydia clapped her hands in delight. "Perfect! Let's get looking, then."  
  
Mirus felt Heron pull him back, and saw that she had opened a door and Grim was running insaide. He rushed in after, and saw that it was the battle arena.  
  
"Come on, we've got to go..."  
  
"What about those pokemon?"  
  
"We don't know the full story... it might be completely different to what we think." But after the converstaion he had heard, Mirus doubted that, and Heron knew it.  
  
"Who keeps pokemon in cages?"  
  
"Listen, if you're worried, call the TSPCP or something."  
  
Heron grabbed Mirus by the shoulders. "Those pokemon reminded me of me."  
  
"I'm sorry?"  
  
"Me, on the run from my dad. Kept locked up for all these years, then I had a chance to escape, but always with someone after me."  
  
Mirus felt uncomfortable. "I just don't want to get involved."  
  
"Fine." Heron let go, and started towards the door they'd exited by before. She started shouting. "Fine, if that's how you'll be, I'll go by myself." And she ran off, leaving Mirus and Grim alone in the battle arena.  
  
Confused and afraid, he made for the door they'd entered by the first time. Grim followed him loyally, but he was whining and kept looking at the door from which Heron had left by.  
  
"We can't do anything about it, Grim," Mirus told him.  
  
The poochyena whined back. _Yes, we can._

__

__

__

__

__

* * *

Heron, pokeball in hand, creapt back through the doors she and Mirus had been through earlier, lodging them open by dragging a bench in front. She couldn't believe him! Alright, so he was a bit of a wimp, but this was ridiculas. Didn't he even try to understand?  
  
She looked around to make sure the coast was clear. Nobody was about. Still trying to be as quiet as possible, Heron made her way to the cage room. It was empty, but Heron didn't take any chances. She picked up a bolt that had presumably come off one of the cages, and threw it into the room. Nothing.  
  
Still uncertain, Heron crept into the cage room. Nobody was there except the frightened pokemon in their cages.  
  
This time, Heron wasn't going to be foolish enough to set off the alarm. She pressed the button on Ekans's pokeball, and the snake burst out.  
  
"Ekans, I need you to use Acid on the bars of these cages," she told him. "Be very careful and quiet though."  
  
The snake was no doubt ocnfused, but he trusted Heron and spat poison onto the bars, where they immediatly melted, leaving a large and gaping hole. Heron held her breath. No alarms. Relieved that her idea had worked, she whispered for Ekans to free the otehrs, and reached into the first cage. It was a large one.  
  
"Chuu!" said a voice, startled, and a jolt of electricity flowed up Heron's arm. She was wearing rubber-soled trainers, but since tthe pokemon was standing on the iron floor of its cage, it still stung.  
  
"Shh!" Heron told it. "Trust me. I'll have you out of here. Please, just stay quiet."  
  
The pikachu cocked its head on one side, confused. It was in bad shape- Heron guessed that its attack was weak due to this. Carefully, she lifted up the mouse and pulled out out of the bars. It was light- much lighter than a normal pikachu should be. Its bones were showing through. Heron was disgusted.  
  
"Run for it, but be very careful," Heron told it. "The double doors should be open; sneak through and then wait by the exit. Be quiet, though."  
  
Still wondering whether that was a good idea, Heron set the pokemon down, where it stumbled out into the corridor. Heron reached into the next cage, which contained a rattata, who bit her.  
  
The next cage was filled by two marril. They seemed to trust Heron, or else they were too scared to object. Working faster and faster, Heron freed a sandshrew, now a raticate, now an eevee- possibly the only non-rodent there.  
  
Finally, when all the cages were empty, Heron recalled Ekans, prasising him for his work, picked up the last pokemon (a cyndaquil, too weak to walk) and made for the exit, once again checking for anyone there.  
  
To her amazement, nobody was near the escaped pokemon, and they all were waiting for her. She looked them over quickly- eevee, several rattatas and marril, two sandshrew, large number of chus, sandslash...  
  
Heron stopped, confused. Did she release a sandslash? Before she could think about this, however, the pokemon jumped up and attacked her, slashing her across the face. Then, she sudenly recognised it- the sandslash from the gym battle!  
  
Heron staggered back, almost dropping the small, terrified cyndaquil. Quickly she reached for a pokeball- Vineslice's would be best.  
  
"Fight that sandslash, but don't hurt any other pokemon!" Heron said. Leaving her to it, she pushed the handle down on the exit, and jumped out of her skin at the sound of alarm bells.  
  
"Go! Go!" Heron said to the frightened pokemon. "Run, and find somewhere safe!"  
  
All of them left, except for a raichu who offered to take the small cyndaquil on its back. It gave a tiny "cynda" of thanks to both of them, before the raichu bounded away and out of sight.  
  
"Vineslice, let's go!" Heron called to her, but the pokemon was too involved in the battling, and the sandslash blocked off her escape route.  
  
"Dodge it! We have to leave!" she roared over the sound of the alarm.  
  
Before Vineslice could, however, multiple footsteps were heard, and Lydia and several other people arrived, pokeballs in fists.  
  
"Good work, Sandslash," Lydia said, surveying the battle. The trainers behind her threw pokeballs, and out of them came a quilava, raichu and furret, whic all started to attack Vineslice. Heron reached for her own pokeball, and tried to call back Vineslice, but there were too many pokemon in the way.  
  
"Sleep powder now!" Heron shouted on impulse, and her pokemon spun out such a large amount of the attack that Heron began to feel sleepy herself. The opponent's pokemon started to relax, the sandslash releasing its hold of Vineslice.  
  
Quickly, Heron recalled Vineslice, and, aware of footsteps chasing her, dashed out of the building. She took a left and ran straight into Mirus, along with the escaped pokemon and a large amount of police officers.

* * *

I know this chapter's a little shorter than most, but I hope you liked it. Please review! I'll give you another chapter... probably a bit longer.  
  
Keleri: Umbreon's a rabbit, which is a rodent, so... you know. And this is only the first gym, so a sandslash actually isn't that strong... I think :P  
  
Er, I own the TSPCP- which, if you must know, stands for Tyoke Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Pokemon. Oh, and those pokemon I stated (save for eevee) I count as rodents- mice, rabbits, rats, gerbils, ferrets... you get the picure. Cyndaquil looks like a mouse to me, as does a quilava. Not sure about typhlosions though. Oh, and I broke the tradition and followed Heron for a while instead of Mirus, as you might have noticed. I wanted to give her a chance to shine- can't have one person stealing the glory and all that.  
  
And I know 13 is unlucky for some... Rubbish. I've never found 13 unlucky in my... (falls down plothole) 


	14. Ancient history

Dis/claimers (why I've started doing these I've no idea, but hey): I own Mirus, Heron, Saberazor, not the idea on Suicune because I bet lots of people have that idea too, but I own the towns/cities, and pokemon. Yes, I own it!  
  
OK, I don't. What did you think? If you think these claimers are confusing, just read on. I don't want to put them anywhere else. In fact I might stop doing them. Yes. Fine. That's all.

* * *

"So, what did you do?" Heron asked Mirus. She was holding a sponge to her cheek, where the sandslash had attacked her. It wasn't a very deep scratch, as she'd moved back, but it was bleeding a little.  
  
"It sounds boring compared to your story," Mirus sighed. "I just went out of the building and telephoned the police. Thought you could do with some back-up. They didn't believe me at first, though."  
  
Heron grinned. "How about when those pokemon found you?"  
  
He smiled back. "Yeah, they believed me after that, I think. Then you came flying out, being chased by Lydia and those others."  
  
"Did the police find out why those pokemon were caged?"  
  
"I think it's something to do with breeding pokemon and selling them overseas," Mirus said. "They'd been bred and hatched from Lydia and her trainer's pokemon, and left in those cages until a ship came to take them somewhere like Kanto or Johto. There was a room full of eggs in another room, too. It was horrible- they were all cold and most of them had died." He looked down at Grim, remembering how warm he was when he was in his egg. Grim looked up at him, tail only twitching as he realised the seriousness of the situation.  
  
Heron shuddered. "So what's happening to Lydia?"  
  
Mirus shrugged. "I don't know. She won't be allowed to run a gym again though, that's for certain. They found someone else- I don't know who." He grinned. "You're almost a celebrity, though, Heron! They want to interview you for the papers!"  
  
She leant back and smiled. "All in a day's work. We'll have to leave tomorrow, though, remember?"  
  
Mirus sighed. "I know. I just want to have a look round Plainstown first."  
  
Heron took the sponge off her face. "Good. So do I," she said.

* * *

Mirus wasn't joking about being interviewed for the paper. He laughed at Heron's face when a press crew came up to her and started asking her questions. He thought it was a bit much, but he could also tell that Heron was enjoying the attention greatly. She smiled sweetly- very unlike her, Mirus thought- and sent out Ekans and Vineslice for the cameras.  
  
Afterwards, Heron was a little disappointed to hear that her story was only going to be in the Plainstown papers. However, she cheered up when she found out that it might be on the evening news.  
  
Mirus, meanwhile, wanted to do a bit of sightseeing. Heron pointed out some of the buildings, even though she didn't know what they were. He noticed that she was reading the information off her pokedex, and pretending to act the expert. So he let her.  
  
The first stop was a museum on pokemon types. Heron grumbled a little but let herself be dragged in by Mirus. After paying the P$50, she actually became quite interested in the snake section. Mirus looked at the dog section by himself.  
  
The first thing he saw was a long glass box. In it lay a white ribbon. Mirus thought it had an aura of mystery about it, and read the label, interested.  
  
_"Suicune's Ribbon- this is a ribbon that is believed to have come off the legendary dog pokemon, Suicune. How it came off is a mystery; some people have theories that these pokemon shed their ribbons every 100 years. However it came about, it is definatly pokemon, due to being tested for DNA. There are possibly many suicunes roaming the world, but only one is believed to be the Suicune, who can travel between the continents at will but has so far never been caught. If Suicune exists, it would have to be well over one thousand years old."_  
  
A ribbon from Suicune? Next to the description was a photograph- yes, a photograph- of a suicune. Mirus had a feeling that it wasn't the legendary Suicune, just a normal one. Though what was normal? How many suicunes were there anyway? How did he know which was the legend and which were the legendaries?  
  
Interested to find out more, Mirus looked in other glass boxes, and found a faded photograph of the supposed Suicune, as well as some blue hairs that looked decidedly unconvincing.  
  
There were other dogs covered, as well; a model showing the anatomy of a growlithe and how they breathed fire, which Mirus found intriguing. There was a musical horn, made from the curled horn of a houndoom. Apparently, in ancient times, these horns were used for ceremonies and announcements. This one looked hundreds of years old.  
  
There were lists of dogs and what types there were, supposed theories that all modern pokemon dogs (and cats) evolved from just one; Saberazor. Mirus liked the name, but the sketch of Saberazor looked decidedly fearsome. Apparently saberazors were still alive today, but were very rare. They were of the Ground type, and classified as both Dog, Cat and Fossil. Mirus wondered if he could ever catch one.  
  
By this time he had absorbed all that the dog section of the museum had to offer, and had a look at some of the other sections while he waited for Heron to finish gazing at a rayquazza tooth.  
  
"Informative," he said when she had finished.  
  
She grinned. "Yeah, cool."  
  
They had a look at some other buildings- a school with pokemon and children running about outside, a radio station (closed to public due to repairs) and finally they found themselves back at the gym. Everyone in Plainstown knew about Lydia and her being snatched of her training license. She would appear in court in several days. Now, however, Mirus and Heron were looking at the hastily-written laminated sign reading, "Under New Management".  
  
The door was ajar, and the building didn't smell of disinfectant so much, much to Mirus's relief. Other than that it was the same, except- Mirus leant closer- the symbol on the door till contained a tail, but someone had rubbed off the ridges, so the tail was no longer a raticate's.  
  
"I wonder who runs it now?" Heron asked aloud, looking right up to the roof of the building, as though that would give some clue.  
  
"I do," said a familiar voice. Mirus looked quickly behind him to see Mike, the guy from the street league and the cat pokemon.  
  
Heron grinned. "Well, congratulations," she said. "Do we have to challenge you again?"  
  
He shook his head. "The badge is still a whisker badge; there's just a subtle change." He nodded to the doorhandle where Mirus was looking. "I'm really pleased- I'd always wanted to be Gym leader. For some reason the council didn't want another rodent trainer."  
  
Mirus nodded. "Well, good luck, Mike."  
  
He smiled at both of them. "Thanks, but I hope I won't need it. Well, see you. I've got some challengers to compete against."  
  
He brushed past Mirus, into the gym, taking a back passage. "Better do something about this smell," they heard him announce to himself as he walked off.

* * *

Bags filled to the brim with food and pokemon items, Heron and Mirus retired to the pokemon centre after supper, vowing to both get up early and set out to the next city.  
  
Once in his room, Mirus let out his pokemon for a quick run, and contented himself in looking out of the window. The sun was setting, filling the circular sky with washes of red light, covering the houses with the same glow like the ocean. Ahead of him he could see acres of flat land that gave Plainstown its name, dotted with occasional lone trees. Since he was facing west, he couldn't see the next city very well. It must be far away, over the horizon.  
  
Filled with the thought of a long way to travel next day, Mirus thought it would be a good idea to rest.

* * *

Screaming, screaming... Mirus was already out of bed and hammering on Heron's door for her to stop. "It's just a dream," he said through the door as soothingly as he could. People around were emerging from their rooms, shaking their heads, asking questions. Mirus just nodded at them before they retreated back to their beds.  
  
He decided that he really would have to ask Heron about these nightmares. Now was not the time, with all these people. He might not be good at reading emotions, but something was definatly troubling her.

* * *

E/N: So, enter debates about ferrets. OK, farla, I've looked them up and they're not rodents, etc (I wasn't trying to prove you wrong, by the way, I just looked up "rodents"). But I needed somewhere to put them... I suppose they'd better go with the group of small mammals, etc. Don't know whether I'll include those or not.  
  
Well, thanks for more reviews. I'm glad that I'm loved. A bit. Not much really happened here, except for me posting random ideas on suicunes and legendaries.  
  
You know I mentioned "thanks for reviews"? Do you want to get another "thanks"? Yes, I'm rubbish at hinting. But since you've read all this way you might as well post a comment... 


	15. Solo road

E/N: OK, here I'm going to use Dannichu's idea of having trainer that use one pokemon. Apaprt from that, I don't think much'll happen in this chapter.

* * *

Mirus and Heron had let out their pokemon for a run as they walked towards Ancrock. Heron was leading the way, pretending- Mirus suspected- she knew the path, like usual. He let her, and said nothing, instead preferring to watch their pokemon play together.

"How far?" he asked her casually.

She bit her lip. "Well, the cave's visible from here, and Ancrock's almost straight after the cave ends."

"How long's the cave?"

"Long," she said, and nothing else.

Suddenly Mirus recalled his pokemon. "What's up?" Heron asked.

"Trainers."

Heron looked about and smiled. "Come on guys," she said, taking out her pokeballs and recalling Ekans and Vineslice.

"Hey!" Mirus called to the two figures. "Fancy a battle?"

One of the figures looked up. It was a girl, about their age. Mirus glanced to see how many pokemon she had. One?

"Hey," she said, approaching them. "We were just on our way back to Plainstown, but I reckon my pokemon can still battle."

"Why d'you only have one pokemon?" Heron asked her. "What kind do you train?"

"I'm a solo pokemon trainer," she told them, ignoring Heron's rudeness. "Mark is as well."

"I didn't know there was a type like that," Heron said thoughtfully.

The girl nodded. "It was introduced last year. Basiaclly, it means that you can only have one pokemon with you at a time. Whenever you catch a new one, it's sent to your PC. The only problem is double battles. That's why Mark and I are travelling together."

A boy caught up with them. "Hi," he said.

"So, you want a battle?" Heron asked, looking over both of them.

Mark nodded. "Sure, I'll take you on. Have to be a one-on-one though."

"I'll battle you then," Mirus said, shaking her hand. "What's your name?"

"Peta."

"Isn't that a boy's name?"

Peta laughed. "Everyone says that. No, it's short for something complicated, but I've been called Peta all my life."

"OK, so one on one it is. I'm Mirus, I train dogs."

"Nice." she stepped back. "I might as well choose first. Go, Scrape!"

She threw her only pokeball and a primeape appeared, jumping form foot to foot. "Ape!"

Mirus took only a second to choose. "Go, Chlli."

"A vulpix!" Peta said as Chilli emerged. "I love vulpix!"

Scrape jumped up and down happily, which made Mirus smile. He nodded at Chilli. "Use Ember!"

"Scrape, Cross Chop!"

Chilli attacked first, sending a blast of flames at the primeape. It paused, confused, before taking to the air in a high leap.

"Chilli, dodge with Quick Attack!"

"Vul!" she agreed, and ran out, just as Scrape landed on the ground. It turned around, angrily, in time for Chilli to hit it.

"Nice one, Chilli. Use Growl and Ember again."

"Scrape, Seismic Toss."

Chili stood her ground and growled at her opponent, but was forced to jump as the primate pounced on her. At that, she was caught, and flung out across the ground in a very rough way.

"Chilli! Are you all right?" Mirus asked her desperatly.

"Vul," she told him, standing up.

"Right Scrape, Brick break."

"Counter it with Ember!"

The barrage of flames stopped the primeape from coming closer, and it backed off. Mirus thought it was burned. He nodded at his pokemon. "Another Ember, then finish it with Quick attack!"

"Oh no you don't. Scrape, dodge the Ember and use Counter!"

The primate moved quite fast at the dodging command, so Chilli, unaware of the new tactic, switched into Quick Attack. Mirus saw what would happen and tried to stop her, but she slammed into a punch aimed by Scrape, using her own momentum to send her flying.

"Chilli, please get up!" Mirus said. He remembered the confident command. "Get up!"

"Scrape, Cross Chop," Peta commanded.

The primeape leapt into the air and hit Chilli full on. Mirus, sighing, took out her pokeball and called her back.

"You did it!" Peta shouted to her pokemon. "You definatly deserve a rest- we'll get you to a centre soon."

"Your primeape's really strong," Mirus told her as he minimized Chilli's pokeball.

"Thanks," she said. "But remember, he's the only pokemon I use."

Mirus nodded. "Right. Still, you beat us easily. is this your first league?"

Pet shook her head. "No, but I used a new pokemon for this league."

Mirus nodded, and turned back to Heron's battle. They were shaking hands- Mirus guessed that Heron had won, or else she wouldn't be smiling.

"Well, thanks," Peta said. Mirus took some notes out of his pocket. "Here. Thanks for the battle."

"You too. Well, we'd better got going."

Mark nodded at Heron and he moved off as well. Mirus waved once and ran to catch up with Heron. "How was your battle?"

"Easy," she said. "He had a rapidash, so I just used Onix. How about you?"

"I lost," he admitted. "In fact, I need to heal Chilli." He stopped and retreived a potion from his bag, and let out the fox pokemon. "Hey, Chilli," he said. "I'm just going to heal you, and you can go back to sleep."

When he was done, he straightened up aagin and recalled the vulpix. Heron grinned.

"What?" he asked.

"You're becoming so much better at being a trainer. I reckon it comes naturally to you, but it's only just woken up."

"You think?" he asked as they kept walking.

"Yup," she told him. "And, against all modesty, I should know."

* * *

"This is Ancrock Cave?" Mirus asked, staring up at the cliff face.

"Actually, that's a cliff. That's Ancrock cave." Heron pointed.

He sighed. "I know that. It's just huge. How long is it?"

"You asked me before."

"Yes, and you said 'long'."

Heron sighed and drew out her pokedex, pressing a few buttons. "Apparently, it's just a really, really long curving tunnel. But Ancrock's at the top of that cliff, apparently. Behind a wall of rock." She pointed upwards, and Mirus stared.

"It's huge," he repeated.

"Which is why we use the cave," Heron said. "Come on, there're bound to be all sorts of pokemon here."

"I doubt whether there would be dogs or snakes."

"There's a lake," Heron pressed.

Mirus sighed. "How many water dogs do you think there are?" he asked.

"Suicune."

"And I'm really going to find a suicune in there."

"That's the spirit," Heron said. "The quicker we get through this place, the quicker we can get out."

Inside, it was very dark. Mirus immediatly threw Jazz's pokeball for some light. The pokemon emerged happily, the sparks on his body flickering as usual. Heron sighed in relief. "Thanks."

Mirus nodded. "You say this place hasn't got any forks or anything?"

"That's right. It's just a long, annoying tunnel, generally just to add excitement to your day."

He sighed. "Let's just go. Jazz, I'll need you to keep off zubats or anything."

"There'll be rock types," Heron reminded him. She threw her own pokeball. "Vineslice, you can get rid of any geodudes that come our way, right?"

"Ssslice!" agreed the snake.

Mirus nodded again and they set off into the long and winding tunnel.

* * *

E/N: Well, I can't think really of anything to say (though every time I say that I end up with a ridiculously long E/N) so I'll just say that I don't own pokemon, Dannichu does. Mwafafa. Anyway, what pokemon should our hero/ine catch next? Be realistic in your choosing, if you want to choose. 

Remember, nicknames for a grass-type dog still appreciated; the suspect victim- I mean pokemon- will be appearing a little while after Ancrock.

Anyway, before I call upon my infamous Pokemon orchestra to play you their latest hit, "Review, review"... well, if you don't recognise that as a hint, I won't bother.


	16. The long and winding cave

The duo had been walking for what seemed like hours. Mirus would have been interested to know what the actual time was, but it was too dark to read the time on his watch, dispite Jazz's illuminating beam of light. 

A dark shape flew out in front of them and paused, turning its blind face towards them.

"Zu!" it said, as though in surprise. Then it flew closer, and started screeching.

Mirus shoved his hands over his ears. "Jazz!"

The pokemon obliged with a quick Thundershock, which was weak but enough to send the zubat flying off in terror. Jazz sighed and sat down where he was, panting. It might not have been a strong attack, but he had been keeping off zubats for some time now, as well as walking all this way.

"Jazz?" Mirus asked him, sitting down and running his hand over his back. The static stung his fingers, but he ignored it.

"Maybe we should stop to eat," Heron suggested. Her vineslice hissed and wound herself around her legs now that they had stopped.

"Elec," Jazz agreed. The light he was emitting was definatly dimmer than before.

Mirus nodded. "Some food and maybe a Potion will get you feeling better, OK?"

"Elec!"

"Interesting picnic," Heron mumbled, taking her backpack off and sitting down. Vineslice hissed again angrily at the disturbance, but settled when she saw a packet of pokemon food appear.

Mirus stared. "How much of that do you have?"

"I picked some up at the last Centre," she replied casually. "Here."

Mirus caught the packet and ran his fingernail along the top. To his surprise, it split open easily, and he poured some onto a relitively clean part of the rock floor, where Jazz immediatly started devouring it.

"Have all you want," he told him. "Unless you've got nothing for us to eat, Heron?"

"I've got some fruit," she said, producing an apple. She threw that to him too. "Don't I think of everything?"

"Where'd you get this?"

"From the Centre."

"The food's free there?"

Heron sighed. "You can take it to go," she said, very casually indeed.

Mirus dropped the topic. "I really ought to remember to bring food."

"Yeah, you should." She laughed. "No, don't worry. I always seem to have more than I need. I've got some bread here if you want a bit."

"Elec!" Jazz said as Heron handed over the bread.

Mirus grinned. "You're not still hungry, are you?"

"Strike, electrike," he replied happily.

"OK, fine. You can have some."

They continued eating for several minutes more, Mirus sharing what seemed like most of his food with his now vividly excited pokemon. After he'd finsihed, he sprayed on a quick Potion, just in case. Heron had already eaten, and now she stood up, loking around.

"Hear something?" Mirus asked her, standing up as well.

She shook her head. "No, there's just supposed to be an underground lake around here."

"You know where it is?"

"Maybe." She pointed to the nearest wall. "Look."

Marus looked, and saw, in the light supplied by Jazz, something glinting. Closer inspection proved it to be moving down the rock and dissappearing when it met the floor.

"Water."

She nodded. "Hopefully, that means there's that lake nearby."

"Wouldn't that be on the floor above us?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, probably. I don't know much about the structure of water in caves, but I'm guessing that it goes in somewhere near the top and cuts a passageway through. That could be flowing from it or feeding it."

"That means that the lake was on the floor below," Mirus said. "Or it could just be escaped rainwater?"

Heron grinned. "Well, I'm thinking it's from the lake that's supposed to be here, and there could be pokemon in that lake." She turned away and started walking. "Come on."

Mirus sighed as Jazz ran ahead to be at the front, and caught up with them. "Does your pokedex say anything about a lake here?"

She nodded. "I checked before and there's definatly one in here somewhere. I'm not sure where it is, but I'm hoping it's on the path."

"Me too. I don't want to be in here for hours."

They walked on for a little while, until Jazz's tail started wagging and he ran ahead, taking the light with him. "Wait!" his trainer yelled.

Heron was running as well, with vineslice just in front of her. "It might be the lake!" she yelled.

_What's so exciting about water? _Mirus asked himself, but he sprinted after them. After all, their light source was running away, and it could be the exit.

He rounded a corner and caught sight of Jazz in his little ring of light. Heron was right behind him, looking left and right, excited.

"This is it!" she said.

"What?" he asked. Then: "Oh, right. The lake?"

He walked towards them. Jazz was bent over, lapping up water. Mirus guessed this was why he had run off- he hadn't had a drink all day. In fact, now he thought of it, nor had he. He sat down next to his pokemon and scopped up some in his hands, drinking it form there. Some spilt, but he ignored it.

Heron was leaning over, looking into the water.

"What are you looking for pokemon for?" Mirus asked her. "You won't find any snakes there."

"That's where you're wrong," Heron said. "Look over there."

She pointed, and Mirus saw another light source. This one, though, appeared to be light coming from outside, and he could hear a splashing noise. As his eyes adjusted slightly and the light area seemed to spread, he saw that there was a waterfall pouring in from outside and splashing into the lake. He could see the lake clearly now, because it was darker than the rock surrounding it. It looked dead and lifeless.

"That waterfall comes from a stream outside," Heron explained. "I think that it's big enough to have a pokemon washed through, don't you?"

Mirus nodded. "It would have to be a small pokemon," he said. "But the only water snakes I know are gyradoses and milotics, and they definatly couldn't fit through here."

"No, but their pre-evos could."

Mirus looked at her. "You mean like a magikarp or feebas could fall through there?"

"It's a possiblity. And then I could train it until it evolves."

Mirus nodded. "So how are you going to get them to come to you?"

"I thought of that." She took off her bag again, and searched inside, finally drawing out a chunk of leftover bread. "Like feeding the pidgeys," she grinned, and tore off a piece, throwing it in.

"What if there're no pokemon here?" Mirus asked her. "Or if you attract the wrong sort?"

"Well, magikarps and feebas are weak enough ot get washed through. I'd say that other pokemon would be stronger. Hopefully. Tentacools might be, but they're not freswater pokemon."

He sighed and left her to it. "Good luck," he mumbled. "Oh, and if you do find a suicune, would you--"

Heron cut him off mid-sarcasm. "I see something. OK, Vinelice, phase two. Dangle your tail in the water."

"If a pokemon grabbed hold of that, it would hurt," Mirus said. "Anyway, it's too dark to see anything. You might end up with a blind pokemon that catches her." He wasn't critising, just suggesting, but Heron ignored him anyway. He watched, slightly fancinated, as Vinelice, supported by her trainer, dangled her tail over the water, leaves just skimming the surface.

"Any moment now."

Mirus sat and watched. Jazz watched too, having finished his drink. His tail had stopped wagging and he looked nervous. _No wonder, Mirus thought. Any moment now something's going to burst out of--_

Vineslice gave her tail a final flick and something took the bait. Something pretty big. It wasn't light enough to see more than a dark shape, but it definatly wasn't a magikarp.

"OK, Vinelice, use Stun Spore!"

"Slice!" she replied, flicking orange dust out over the water. The opponent seemed to stiffen, before diving underwater.

A silence. "I think I lost it," Heron said sadly. "And it looked like a snake, too."

"Slice," Vineslice echoed.

Mirus turned ot her. "What was it, anyway?"

Before she could answer, the pokemon burst out of the water again.

* * *

E/N: Ooh, suspence. And I know, I updated pretty quickly (for me) so feel free to praise me. Hallelujah. BTW, I'm not sure what the plural of "gyrados" is, but having the singular as a plural just sounded wrong... if anyone knows, please tell me. 

**Nicknames** for a grass dog are STILL appreciated- I've already got the species name (but I'm not going to tell you what it is for an unkown reason). I don't know why I'm making such a big fuss about it, but hey. I'd prefer the name to be a word that is irrelivent but fits- "Bark" is the best one I've had so far. I can't remember who sent it, though...

As for the 'mystery pokemon'... well, there arere only two guesses as to what it could be, and knowing me, well... you know. Ladies, gentlemen and sentrets, please place your bets!

I mean, review. Please.


	17. Dragons in fossil city

E/N: I cannot believe that nobody guessed what pokemon this was! I thought it was too obvious. Well, just me then. And LS... I'm confused... but that's just me. Maybe. I like the name! But- so far- Bark is still my favourite though... thank you DC!

* * *

The water practically blinded Mirus for a instant, before the droplets splashed away and he could see the silhouette. He couldn't make out what the pokemon was, but he could tell it was a snake, by its long body and Heron's impressed whistle.

"All right Vineslice, use Stun Spore again!"

Mirus, confused, reached for his pokedex. It hadn't shown any interest in this pokemon, it not being a dog, but he was curious to know what it was. A picture of what he supposed was a dragon flashed up.

_"Milotic, number 154, water. The tender pokemon. Snake/ Dragon type- not acceptable._

_"Milotic lives at the bottom of lakes, outputting a constant positive force that heals and refreshes all that feel it. They are considered the most beautiful of all pokemon- they can only evolve from feebas if their beauty is outstanding. Because of this, they are rare in the wild."_

Only evolves by beauty? Mirus had never known that. He had vaguely admired the pokemon for its appearance and dragonlike power, but had never known much about it, nor had he really cared. He wondered how this one had evolved, and how it had come here in the first place.

Meanwhile, Vineslice's Stun Spore seemed to have stopped the milotic in its tracks briefly. However, it soon shook the effect off, its horns glowed blue, and a light wind started to blow. Mirus could feel it whirling around the small cave, and wondered how a water type could use an attack like that.

"Vineslice, use Whiplash!"

She recoiled at the wind, which was forming itself into a sort-of Gust, and leapt at her opponent. The pokemon did not bother to move, so the attack was full on, and it winced. However, the now-complete Twister slammed into Vineslice, throwing her at Heron's feet.

"Come on, Vineslice!" Heron half-pleaded, half-ordered. Her pokemon responded by picking herself up immediately. "Great! Now, use Razor Leaf!"

Vineslice leapt up high, and Jazz leant forward, illuminating the battle scene further. As Vineslice made to fall back down from her jump, her tail held above her head, leaves giving an odd glow in the twilight. She spun it in those few moments in the air, and several razor-sharp leaves struck out and quickly hit the milotic full on. It recoiled, but did not go beneath the surface.

"Right; finish it with Sleep Powder!" Heron commanded, pleased. Vineslice, appearing equally excited, sprayed the white-blue powder over the milotic, where it immediately began to fall asleep. Heron wasted no time; she already had an empty pokeball in her hand and shouted; "Great ball, go!" before throwing it at the milotic, which was starting to sink beneath the water's surface.

Mirus saw a flash of red light, he half-closed his eyes- the light was almost blinding in this darkness- and when he opened them, Heron was reaching desperatly into the water for a slowly-sinking pokeball.

"You caught it," he said- for something to say. She had recalled Vineslice, and apart from the crackle of Jazz's fur, the waterfall and light breathing, the cave seemed dramatically silent after the battle.

She grinned; "Another snake for my collection." Heron minimized the pokeball and proudly clipped it onto her belt. "You'd better catch up."

Mirus shook his head. "No dogs here." He knew she was only half-joking, so let her bask in the minute glory of having one more pokemon than him. "Where'd you get a great ball anyway?"

"I got it from the shop," she said casually. "I thought the pokemon around here would get stronger, maybe, so I went up a step."

Mirus hadn't had enough money to afford a great ball after the other items he'd brought, but Heron had won more battles than him. He left the subject and started walking, carefully in the half-dark, to the circle of light where the waterfall came from.

Jazz's tail was wagging happily after all the excitement. Heron smiled at him. "OK, we can go. That all right, Mirus?" She looked up, and saw a figure standing as close to the waterfall as possible. "What're you doing?"

He turned back and saw her in the electric light, before turning back to the hole. He could see it clearly enough- it was a little longer than his forearm in diameter, and the waterfall was not really that big. So something was definatly wrong.

Heron called out to him, "What is it? Don't you want to get to Ancrock? I think it's afternoon."

He replied without turning around. "Heron, this waterfall is really small. How could a milotic fit through there? And a feebas couldn't have evolved."

She walked over, obviously thinking quickly. "Well, the water here isn't flooding, so it has to go out somewhere, right? Maybe it got in through there."

He nodded, but was thinking about the water running down the walls in the tunnel. "Right. Never mind- it's not important."

"And a trainer could have released it, or it might have eaten something while it was in here. Someone dropped pokeblocks, perhaps."

"I know, I said it didn't matter. I just thought it was odd." He left the hole, sighing, and saw Jazz at his feet, wagging his tail again and looking up. "You want to lead the way?"

A strange, livewire bark from the pokemon and he started walking off quickly, stopping every now and then to check that the trainers were following him. Heron was fingering her new pokemon's ball, blue against the usual red, and Mirus was still thinking about the hole in the wall.

* * *

The Nurse Joy handed back their pokeballs, smiling her usual familiar smile as she did so, before moving on to the next customer. Mirus picked up his three and walked after Heron, who was already walking outside.

Ancrock City was actually quite a beautiful place, surrounded by mountain on three sides but with a stunning view to the south over the beach and ocean, where the sun was reflected in the waves. It was early afternoon, but Mirus guessed that it would start to get dark around eight, or maybe later.

"I think we should challenge the gym tomorrow," he said as she stopped walking. "I need to train."

She shrugged. "OK, but I reckon I could win anyway."

"You've got an evolved pokemon," he pointed out, but had a feeling that Heron would still have been able to beat the gym leader. He could not remember ever seeing her lose.

Another shrug. "I was lucky. Usually feebas are a nightmare to train."

"You got that right," said a voice behind her. Mirus had seen the boy come up, but had ignored them until this point.

"Yeah?" Heron asked him. "Who asked you?"

She wanted a battle, Mirus could tell. Apparently this newcomer could tell as well, since his eyes flicked to her pokeball belt, before scanning both of them over.

"Nobody. But I catch feebas in the ocean and evolve them; I'd like to see you beat my dragon team. My name's Liam, by the way."

Mirus looked at Heron who, surprisingly, looked interested. "How many have you got? Five pokeballs... are they all milotics then?"

"One other dragons, three milotics, and one feebas that I'm evolving. I usually have more than one, but you've got to be careful. Only a certain amount of pokeblocks can affect a feebas's evolution, right? After that it's just a treat, nothing more. Get it wrong and you've wasted your time." Liam unfolded his arms. "And some just might not evolve. It's a matter of experience."

Heron was looking bored again. "Just have a battle, OK?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever. I'll battle you first," he pointed at Mirus. "Then you." A point at Heron.

"OK," Mirus said, stepping forward and unclipping a pokeball before he knew what he was doing.

"You battled dragons before?" asked Liam, unclipping a pokeball of his own.

He nodded. "Once. I beat her."

Liam snorted. "Well, she was probably just a rookie. I've been training for the last month, going through the towns real slow. I've already been to Flourish Town. Anyway," he maximized and threw a pokeball. "Let's start."

The energy hardened into- unsurprisingly- a milotic. Mirus nodded at the snake- it looked more powerful than Heron's, but that could be the light- and threw the pokeball he'd been holding. Out came Grim, shaking his fur happily and cowering at the opponent.

Mirus bit his tongue. He'd sent out the wrong pokemon- why had he been holding Grim's, anyway? He should have gone for Jazz- at least then he had a type advantage. He sighed. Only an inexperienced trainer would have done that.

Grim seemed to redeem himself a bit and growled at the milotic, which moved its head further back in surprise. Mirus relaxed. "Think you can do this?" he asked his pokemon, trying to hide the hopefulness in his voice.

"Chee-ena!" said the poochyena enthusiastically, though his tail didn't wag.

Mirus knew he wanted to act bravely, so he said; "Right, let's go. Use Tackle!"

"Milotic, go for a Twister," Liam ordered his pokemon.

"Lotic," the snake said, its horns turning a blue colour. Mirus recognised the start of the attack, so just urged Grim on with his mind.

He leapt up and struck the snake, and the glow faded, if only for a moment. However, it seemed unfazed and a familiar breeze began to blow.

"Again! Jump up and Bite!" The dog leapt back up from where he had landed before, and fastened his sharp teeth over the pokemon's crest. The dragon started writhing around, trying to shake Grim off, and suddenly the Twister started, surrounding the two battlers.

Milotic was too heavy to be fazed by its own attack, but Grim was caught on an air current and sent veering off to the side sharply, letting go of his catch. He was thrown roughly to the ground before the breeze faded, and sat up, whining.

"Grim, are you hurt?"

Another whine, and the dog stood up, tail attempting a wag as he crouched low.

The milotic had a visible scratch on its crest, and Liam called, "Water Gun!"

"Grim, Howl and Tackle combination, hurry!" Mirus said as firmly as he could. Grim moved fast, Howling as he charged, but the beam of water caught him full on and he was pushed backwards, slamming into the ground again.

"Whiplash, milotic," Liam said, a smile edging onto his face.

"Grim, can you get up?" Mirus asked, fingers flicking over to his pokeball. A whimper. "That's OK, you did your best." Then to Liam, "Call off your pokemon."

The milotic stopped mid-attack, though Liam hadn't said a word. Then Mirus realised why; white particles seemed to be collecting towards Grim as he lay there.

Grim's silhouette grew larger and his fur seemed to thicken, hanging off his body in a greater length, and his tail grew longer, all in the space of a few seconds. Then the light faded slowly away, and Mirus was left staring, stunned, at an enormous black and grey wolf lying where Grim had been.

* * *

E/N: Yup, he evolved. I thought it was about time. And there're some things to tell you about this chapter, just in case you were going to ask, which you probably were. And I don't blame you. So: I don't use levels; a trainer can't get out their pokedex and say "Oh, he's level nineteen," or something. I don't like that. A pokemon can evolve in the midst of a battle as you've seen, like in the anime, and they can use more than four moves. Just so you know. 

Anyway, for the levels, milotics CAN be low-leveled, since they evolve with the beauty thing. Which doesn't nessercarily mean that Heron's is super-powerful. The "mystery" will be revealed in the next chapter, though I think it's a bit obvious as to what happened.

And I know mightyenas aren't enormous, but compared to a poochyena... and as for the milotic size issue... I reckon their size is a bit short of ridiculous. Ah hem. I had to give Heron one anyway, right...?

Well, feel free to correct me. By reviewing. Mwaha.


	18. Pack leaders

"Tyen," Grim muttered, before opening his eyes and standing up, looking very much surprised. "Tyena!" 

Mirus lowered the pokéball, ran towards the surprised pokémon and hugged him, not caring if anyone saw a teenaged boy hugging their pokémon. His fur was long and soft, and his head came up to Mirus's shoulder. "You did it! You finally evolved! I can't believe it... you are glad... are you?"

"Tyena!" Grim said happily, his tail starting to wag.

Mirus knew from that movement that this was the same old Grim, and he hadn't really changed in personality that much. How would they battle, though? They might have to change their strategy a bit... he would obviously be stronger, but by how much?

"Well, congratulations," said Liam, sounding slightly surprised.

"Mirus!" Heron said to him in a loud whisper. "You can win the battle now!"

He shook his head. "I forfeited, remember?" He gave Grim a final pat and recalled him, saying, "Sorry, rules are rules..."

Liam blinked, before coughing gently. "I suppose I won then."

"Yes. But I don't mind." Mirus's face broke into a grin. "I've wanted him to evolve for ages."

"Well, don't forget to re-register him later," Heron said, as Mirus handed over a bundle of notes and stepped back, out of their allotted battlefield. Then: "My turn."

"Ah, so you want to face my dragons?"

She snorted. "Yeah, whatever. There seem to be a lot of dragon trainers around here nowadays though. How come?"

Her arms were folded, and Liam could see that she wouldn't battle until he answered. He sighed. "Well, the type is very powerful and dragons aren't as rare as they once were. That could have something to do with it. I've just always admired them for..."

"Yeah, you and the rest of the world," Heron interrupted. "OK, I'll battle you now."

"Charmeleon, go!"

"Perfect. Come on out, Milotic!"

The two pokémon appeared; Liam's orange lizard with the flaming tail- Mirus could feel a faint heat on his face even over the distance- and Heron's milotic, a snake that looked soft, tender and somewhat vunerable. He started at just appearing in a battlefield, uttering a small cry, so Heron called out to him.

"Listen, milotic, I know I haven't talked to you at all yet, and I'm really sorry but I haven't had time. This seemed like a good chance to battle... so, you think you can do it?"

Mirus couldn't hear an answer, but he must have replied, because Heron nodded. "OK, let's go."

"Charmeleon, get right in there with an Ember, then Scratch!"

"Right Milotic. Water Gun- aim for the tail!"

Charmeleon dived forward at once, tail raised, and it flared up instently, sending flashes of fire into Milotic's body. Immediatly Milotic drew back, and the strike of Charmeleon's claw just fell short of him. Milotic seized the chance and fired a swift Water Gun at Charmeleon's tail, smothering it completely.

The lizard gave a deafening screech and fell backwards, the flame on its tail hissing and issuing smoke. Liam flashed Heron a glare, and took out his pokémon's ball.

"Charmeleon, return," he said, calling back his pokémon in a flash of red light. Then he called out to Heron, "I don't even think that's legal. Charmeleon nearly died."

Mirus stole a look at Heron, who was staring at Liam's face, indifferent. Then she shrugged. "It was an accident."

But she didn't ask for her winnings as Liam ran off, clutching the pokéball. Mirus noticed that she was too busy looking at Milotic. The pokémon had a strange look in his eyes, and he was making a soft hissing sound, tail flicking from side to side as though he'd like to hit something. Heron had a thoughtful look set on her face, before she called him back.

"Come on," she said to Mirus as though nothing had happened, and he followed her to the pokémon centre.

* * *

"Heron," Mirus said as the nurse handed him back his pokémon with a smile, "Do you know why Milotic was acting like that?"

"Huh?" she asked, turning to him in confusion. Then she shook her head. "I reckon he was just fired up from the battle still. There's nothing unusual about that, is there?"

"No," he replied, feeling rather stupid. He would have liked to ask her about the Water Gun incident, but if it was a mistake, there wasn't anything that could be done about that. Still, Heron ought to have known about the tail flame of a charmeleon, her being the pokémon expert she was. maybe she'd done it on purpose. She had, after all, told Milotic what to do.

Heron finished clipping the pokéballs back on her belt, and looked up at Mirus. "So, you wanted to do some training?"

He nodded. "I'd like to work with Grim. I've already registered him. What type did you say the gym used?"

"Fossil," she replied. "Mainly rock and ground types, I'd guess. But probably pokémon that resemble ancient creatures.I'd better do some work with Milotic all the same."

Mirus nodded in agreement as they started to leave the building. "I'm out of luck there, since suicunes are the only water dog I can think of. What about grass dogs? Do you know about any?"

She shrugged. "How would I know? You're the canine expert. Maybe your pokédex could tell you about them." She looked around, but apparently found nothing of interest, as her eyes settled on Mirus again and she stopped walking. "What do you say to me battling you?"

He shook his head, smiling a little. "You'd beat me hands down."

"Probably," she replied, grinning smugly to herself. "Still, I can only get better."

Mirus nodded. Was she the same Heron he'd known less than a week ago? Before they'd arrived here in Tyrone. She'd known a lot more than him back then, but had she been so open about it? If she beat him now, maybe she'd tease him. Which would be more annoying than anything else, but still.

He looked up at her. She still looked the same, apart from small details, like the mousey-brown roots of her hair were growing through the pink. And her skin was slightly darker. But she'd changed as a person. Tougher? Still, there was no reason why she shouldn't like battling. Maybe he was being paranoid. As usual.

"Should we go to the beach?" he asked. "For training. I'm guessing there'd be a lot of trainers there."

She nodded, scanning the area- for a battle, Mirus guessed. She turned to him. "There'd be a lot there. It's not exactly the kind of beach you'd go on holiday. The one in Rigol's used more often for that."

Mirus followed her as she changed course. "I bet they have street battles here," she said, looking around. He couldn't think of anything to say, so didn't comment. Heron carried on talking. "That would be interesting, see if they battle any differently here. Because it's usually local people who are in these leagues."

"It's getting late," Mirus added, looking at his watch and finally finding something to say. "I reckon we should have an hour of training, then go back. Otherwise it'll get dark."

"Mmm," she agreed, still looking around. "I might stay up. Depends."

By this time the buildings had cleared slightly, and there appeared to be a vertical drop ahead of them. But when Mirus got closer, he saw that there were actually steps, seemingly carved into the cliff face, and that it would be easy to climb down. Scattered around the beach were people, some battling. There were not so many as he had imagined, but more than enough to choose from and battle with. There were about a dozen, all of them in pairs. There were also huts and people walking along selling things, but both Mirus and Heron found the trainers more interesting.

Heron jogged ahead, climbing down the stairs quickly. When Mirus stepped on the first one, he found them slippery with the wet sea breeze, and had to grab onto part of the rock on his left to stop himself slipping. Eventually he caught up with her without gaining any bruises, and found her already walking towards a pair who weren't battling. Sighing, Mirus followed.

"Hello," said the trainer who wasn't being talked to by Heron. He grinned. "Want to battle? While your significant other is getting thrashed by Simon."

Mirus blinked, before saying, "You'd be surprised."

"Probably," came the reply absent-mindedly. "Anyway, I'm a solo pokémon trainer, so it'd have to be one-on-one." He offered a hand. "Anyway. I'm Aaron." He pronounced it Aron.

"Mirus," said Mirus. "You're a pokémon?"

"At least it's reletively normal," he replied, but grinning. "Anyway, let's just battle. You choose first. I haven't got much choice anyway."

"Right," Mirus said, picking Grim's pokéball. "Grim!"

The mightyena emerged, shaking his shaggy coat and stumbling slightly, before choosing his footing more carefully and staring at Aron. He nodded.

"Go, Digby!"

Mirus was expecting a ground type, but as the light formed itself into its shape, a wave of heat his his face. It was only light, but it was still rather a shock, and confirmed the pokémon as a fire type. A dog, to be precise, with flamed orange fur streaked with black, a flickering tail and mane and sharp teeth as the pokémon growled at his opponent. The name had obviously been chosen when he was only a puppy, and was now too late to be changed.

Grim was shorter in height and smaller in build than the arcinine, but he still held his tail high, a sign that he was in charge. Digby growled again and snapped his jaws, refusing to be the beta.

Mirus noted this, and knew how important pride was to dogs. Whoever was stronger would be able to bear the title of alpha male, and neither of them particulary wanted to let that chance go.

"Digby, Flame Wheel!"

Mirus jumped as he remembered he was in charge. Grim was crouched, muscles tensed, ready to leap on his opponent and sink his teeth into his neck. His eyes were focused on his opponent as fire grew around him and he grew closer...

"Grim, Quick Attack to dodge aand then use Howl," Mirus ordered quickly.

Grim sprang out of the way as Digby thrust his full body weight in his direction, fire blazing. His side grazed the mightyena's, and Grim Howled, but not in pain.

"Rage! Scratch! Bite!" Aaron commanded.

His pokémon needed no telling as he leapt onto Grim and started tearing away. Grim tore back, teeth biting, claws flashing, sand from the beach flying up as the two dogs. Digby has his body over Grim's head, trying to crush him to the ground, but he was still trying to snap and claw back.

"Grim..." Mirus began, but broke off as he couldn't think of what to say. "Get out of there fast! You're too close!"

There was more struggling as the two dogs wrestled against each other, teeth tearing at fur, then Grim managed to break away from Digby's grasp, knocking the arcinine off his feet in the process. Whil he tried to get back up, Grim caught his breath.

"Good work, Grim. Now use Howl again and..." Mirus thought desperately, and had an idea. "Take Down!"

"Flame Wheel again," commanded Aron simply.

As Grim turned to rush at his opponent, Digby flared up in white heat, twisted his agile body round to face the mightyena and ran towards him as well. The two dogs collided, and to Mirus's surprise it was Grim who came of second-best.

"What...?" he said to himself. "But... the Howls..." The Howls... they'd have raised his Attack, and so the recoil damage would have been a lot more than usual. Digby's attack much have... diverted some of the damage to him, and Grim had...

Mirus willed Grim to get to his feet, and watched as the wolf stuggled up. But finally he gave up and collapsed. With a sigh, his trainer recalled him. "Sorry," he muttered, mainly to himself. "We'll try again later."

* * *

E/N: Yes, this HAS been updated! I think I'll write another chapter of this, as I'm on a roll-thing, then update Freaks. So you know. But hey, who knows what I'll write? I'm a crazy funky writing thing! 

Review and I'll be quiet(er)... maybe.


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